The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association says doctors will down tools beginning Monday after salary talks with the government collapsed.
The doctors association is also alleging claims that the government is not protecting them enough should there be an Ebola outbreak.
But the claim was immediately shot down by Health Minister Dr. David Parirenyatwa who says the government is doing all it can to avert an outbreak, making sure all health professionals are protected.
In a press statement, the doctors association said it has been directed by its members to ‘’call for a peaceful nationwide strike by doctors beginning Monday, 27 October, 2014, as a response to the laxity shown by government to address our concerns.”
The planned industrial action will further strain a struggling public health system, which like most health services worldwide, is also on high alert due to the Ebola virus that is affecting some West African countries. Zimbabwe has not recorded a single case of Ebola.
Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association president Dr. Fortune Nyamande told VOA Studio 7 that there is a stalemate with the government.
Responding to these allegations, Dr. Parirenyatwa said negotiations are continuing.