DOCTORS' STRIKE: Man Narrates How He Helplessly Watched Son's Leg Rot
Medical institutions in Zimbabwe are almost deserted as doctors and nurses have embarked on industrial action to compel the government to the table over salaries which they say have been eroded by the soaring inflation.
The strike intensified when the acting president of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Dr Peter Magombeyi reportedly went missing on Saturday 14 September in Budiriro.
Magombeyi was found on the 19th of September in Nyabira, near Inyathi Barracks, about 35 kilometres from Harare.
Despite his return, doctors have vowed to continue with the strike saying that they are incapacitated to execute their duties and responsibilities.
It is during this juncture that the son of Lovemore Sambiri, a self-employed garden designer, who was run over by a car was hospitalised at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
Sambiri told New Zimbabwe that there were no medicines and when he bought some of the required medicines from pharmacies, there was no one to administer them onto his son. He narrated:
He has only gone through the x-ray and up to today, nothing has been done on him because doctors are on strike.
I was advised by nurses to seek assistance from private doctors but private doctors want US$75. This is against my earnings of about $300 per month. I cannot afford US$75 the private doctors want.
It is almost two weeks in hospital but without any help. His leg is now getting bad and may have to be amputated. His head has stitches already.
Meanwhile, Mpilo hospital has said that it had to engage personnel from the Zimbabwe National Army to save the situation.
More: New Zimbabwe
