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The Health Service Commission (HSC) has initiated a comprehensive job evaluation for all health professionals and workers in the public service.
This exercise aims to assess the qualifications and significance of all positions within the sector, ensuring that employees receive fair and equitable compensation relative to their contributions.
Launched at the end of July, the evaluation is projected to be completed by mid-November this year.
In an interview with <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/major-job-evaluation-for-health-professionals/">The Herald</a>, Lovemore Marufu, HSC’s acting general manager for conditions of service and industrial relations, explained that job evaluation is a systematic process designed to assess the relative worth of various roles within an organisation. He said:
<blockquote>
By using this approach, organisations ensure that the job grading structure is aligned with duties and responsibilities.
The exercise is fundamental to building a fair and equitable compensation system. Job evaluation is not salary increase, promotion, upgrading or cost of living adjustment.
It’s about building a grading structure, establishing job hierarchy, determining pay relationships and developing policies and systems that speak to job responsibilities.
The methodology being used to evaluate jobs in the public health sector is the Patterson grading system. The system categorises jobs based on the complexity of decision-making.
The level and complexity of decisions are essential in grading of different jobs in an organisation. The jobs are categorised into 6 decision bands (A-F).
In addition, jobs are further differentiated or sub-graded within the decision bands based on the complexity, accuracy or tolerance required in the job, pressure of work, supervision given, knowledge, skills and competencies among other factors required to perform role responsibilities.
</blockquote>
HSC spokesperson, Tryfine Dzvukutu, said the benefits of the exercise extended beyond the public health sector, as it had a far-reaching spillover to the nation’s productivity. She said:
<blockquote>
The Health Service Commission noted the dynamic nature of jobs and the importance of ensuring that the compensation framework remains relevant to job changes.
Health sector jobs evolve due to several factors, including disease burdens, policy changes, emerging diseases, and regulatory and technology changes.
For health care professionals, this exercise offers several benefits, including fair compensation, clear career progression framework and job satisfaction.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe’s public health sector has faced a significant staff attrition rate in recent years, resulting in a substantial exodus of qualified nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and specialists seeking better opportunities abroad, particularly in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

The Health Service Commission is checking if all health workers are getting fair pay for their work. The evaluation will be finished by November. They use a grading system to determine the level of decisions made in each job. This helps to decide how much each worker gets paid. It also helps with career progression and job satisfaction. With many health workers leaving for better opportunities abroad, it's important to keep them happy. The evaluation aims to make sure everyone is treated fairly and that the public health sector stays productive.

Health Service Commission Embarks On Job Evaluation For Workers In Public Service

Some doctors and nurses in public healthcare institutions are reportedly working in cooperation with laboratory professionals to steer patients towards using specific private sector laboratories, despite the availability of similar services at lower costs in government-run facilities.
According to <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/doctors-nurses-milking-patients-through-syndicates/">The Herald</a>, some medical professionals have been observed recommending particular laboratories for various tests such as blood, urine or stool samples, and in many cases, even providing a contact number for someone who can collect the samples on the laboratory’s behalf.
The selected private laboratories are said to have staff on standby at hospitals, ready to quickly collect samples and return the results directly to the patient’s bedside.
The Medical Laboratory and Clinical Scientists Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe has vowed to take action, as they believe the actions of the laboratories are exacerbating the financial burden on patients, particularly those from low-income backgrounds who may feel compelled to use the recommended private services.
Speaking at a Health Professions Authority familiarisation meeting between councils under its purview and the media on Tuesday, 06 August, the med lab council’s registrar, Agnes Chigora, said:
<blockquote>
If you go to Government institutions, at times you see motorbikes stationed there. Does that mean the public lab which is there is not offering those tests?
It seems they are working with other health practitioners, with nurses and doctors and they ensure that for any lab tests which are required, they demand that those tests come from specific laboratories.
As a client, if I send my parent to a public institution, it means that is what I can afford. But for someone to insist that they want a test done at a particular lab, which is very expensive, it’s not fair to our people.
</blockquote>
Chigora urged the public to report any instances of such malpractice to her offices or the Health Professions Authority.
She also warned medical practitioners involved in this practice that they could face disciplinary action.
Chigora asserted that the primary duty of doctors and nurses was to provide quality care to their patients, and this included making informed decisions about laboratory services that are in the best interest of the patient, not their financial gain.
To combat the corruption, Chigora said the council, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, would soon carry out a certification exercise for all laboratories to ensure that only those operating above board remained in operation. She said:
<blockquote>
At the advent of COVID-19, everybody thought it was time to make money; labs were opened right, left, and centre.
The Health Professions Authority does the routine inspection (of the labs), but we as a council, are going a step further.
We are moving around these institutions, making sure that the laboratories meet the minimum standards required.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care, in collaboration with the council, has come up with a national certification programme.
We have trained auditors who are going around laboratories and we have a certain level, which the labs have to reach.
</blockquote>
Pharmacists Council of Zimbabwe registrar Alois Karonga said the council had received various reports of malpractices among pharmacists. He said:
<blockquote>
Issues of malpractices that the council has dealt with which are on the rise, among others, include dispensing prescription medicines without prescription from medical doctors, selling expired and unregistered medicines and leaving pharmacies operating without registered pharmacists.
These are some of the transgressions for which the council has brought pharmacists up for disciplinary inquiries.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Some doctors and nurses are teaming up with private labs to make patients use expensive services instead of using cheaper options in public hospitals. The labs have staff in hospitals to quickly collect samples and give results directly to patients. The Medical Laboratory and Clinical Scientists Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe is taking action to stop this. They want patients to report any unfair practices. Doctors and nurses should focus on patient care, not making money. Councils will check labs to make sure they meet good standards. Some pharmacists are also doing bad things and will face consequences.

Doctors And Nurses Colluding With Private Labs To Rip Off Patients

The Minister of Health and Child Care Douglas Mombeshora has dismissed plans of a strike by public hospital doctors and nurses saying “no well-meaning Zimbabwean” will go on strike when the government was looking into their grievances, reported <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/health-minister-says-planned-wage-strike-by-doctors-and-nurses-frozen/">ZimLive</a>.
The Health Apex Council on Tuesday said its members will embark on a strike from 29 February to 02 March if the Health Service Commission continues ignoring their grievances over low salaries.
But speaking to journalists on the sidelines of an annual progress report meeting on patient safety in Harare on Wednesday, Mombeshora said the organisers of the strike were invited to formally submit their grievances to authorities. He said:
<blockquote>
About the intended strike, we understand they wanted to start today (Wednesday) but I don’t think any well-meaning Zimbabwean would do that.
Those who want to engage in industrial action have other motives other than not serving their country’s health service.
We called them to discuss what they want the government to do for them and if not, may they tell us who is capable.
</blockquote>
Mombeshora said the government was going to look into the health workers’ grievances but cannot address the issues at “the click of a finger”. He said:
<blockquote>
We are on record as the Ministry of Health stating that we are looking into their concerns about bettering their conditions of service.
As I said, the government does not operate in a manner where if a grievance is raised, by the click of a finger, they are addressed.
It weighs all its workers’ issues and finds means to ensure that their working conditions are improved.
So, for those who want their working conditions improved, I hope they come to us for a dialogue and we take their matters to the Health Service Commission.
</blockquote>
In a letter to the Health Service Commission, the Health Apex Council, which is the union representing nurses and doctors employed by the government, said health workers have become incapacitated as their meagre salaries have been eroded by hyperinflation.
Some of the grievances raised by the Health Apex Council include non-engagement of health workers on remuneration and conditions of service, exclusion of health workers on the April 2023 cost of living adjustment, non-review of health sector-specific allowances, and poor grading among health workers.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Health Minister Tells Doctors, Nurses "No Well-meaning Zimbabwean" Will Go On Strike

The Health Apex Council, which is the union representing nurses and doctors employed by the government, on Tuesday said its members will embark on a strike from 29 February to 02 March if the Health Service Commission continues ignoring their grievances over low salaries.
In a letter to the commission, the council said health workers have become incapacitated as their meagre salaries have been eroded by hyperinflation. The letter reads in part:
<blockquote>
Ref: Incapacitation of health workers.
Dear Sir
The above subject refers that: the health workers as an essential service are incapacitated by the volatile economic environment which is characterized by the loss of value of the ZWL, price disparities and distortions, and hyperinflation.
The health apex panel has on numerous occasions written to the employer highlighting the plight of health workers. Sadly, to this day nothing has materialized.
Health workers are severely affected by the following reasons as already raised in the position paper:
1. Non-engagement of health workers on remuneration and conditions of service.
2. Exclusion of health workers on the April 2023 cost of living adjustment.
3. Non-review of health sector-specific allowances.
4. Very low basic salary, housing and transport allowances which are now less than USD 10 combined at the prevailing interbank market.
4. Poor grading among health workers.
5. Non-benefiting from non-monetary incentives, no vehicle loan, review downwards of the vehicle rebate amounts.
6. Non-benefiting from PSMAS as a medical aid.
7. Non-availability of tools of trade i.e. equipment, medicines, and surgical supplies.
The health workers are formally giving a 48-hour written notice (from Monday the 26th of February 2024 to Wednesday the 28th of February 2024) for a collective job action in terms of section 16(2)(b) and (c) of the Health Services Act.
The collective job action will commence on Thursday the 29th of February 2024 and end on Saturday the 2nd of March 2024 if the grievances have not been addressed.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Nurses, Doctors Announce Two-day Strike Over Low Salaries

The Minister of Health and Child Care <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Douglas_Mombeshora">Douglas Mombeshora</a> has warned doctors employed by the Government against transferring patients to their private surgeries without any justifiable cause, reported <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/minister-warns-government-doctors-diverting-patients-to-private-surgeries/">ZimLive</a>.
Speaking during a Question and Answer session in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Mombeshora said disciplinary action will be taken against Government doctors who divert patients to their private surgeries without justification. He said:
<blockquote>
Those patients who are admitted in government hospitals are supposed to follow treatment protocols in government hospitals.
It is allowed at a certain level, especially the consultancy, to have private practice, but it is not allowed to transfer patients that you have seen in government to your private practice unless the patient has insisted that they no longer want to be treated in a government hospital.
When such cases arise, the patient is requested to put in writing that they are leaving the government hospital against medical advice to go and get treatment elsewhere.
…If a government medical practitioner is referring a patient to his private practice, please let us know so that appropriate disciplinary action can be taken.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe’s health sector is facing numerous challenges that include dilapidated infrastructure, poorly equipped government hospitals, brain drain, and a severe shortage of medicines.
As a result, some patients opt for expensive private hospitals while people living closer to Zambia and South Africa cross the border to seek medical care in the neighbouring countries.
Zimbabwe’s political and business elites fly out to Asian countries such as India, Singapore and China for medical treatment.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Health Minister Warns Government Doctors Transferring Patients To Private Surgeries

ZANU PF has given the green light for public hospital doctors and nurses to enroll at the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology to be taught the ideals of the country’s liberation struggle.
In a letter seen by Pindula News and date-stamped 24 August 2023, addressed to senior executives, the Secretary for Health and Child Care, Air Commodore Jasper Chimedza said:
<blockquote>
It is noted that some members of staff have requested to be trained in Ideology at the Chitepo School of Ideology.
In view of the above, you are please requested to liaise with the Chitepo School of Ideology regarding training logistics and update this office.
</blockquote>
The <a href="https://www.csoi.online/">Chitepo School of Ideology</a> is named after Herbet Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo, the ZANU Chairman and Chairman of Dare reChimurenga who was assassinated in Zambia on 18 March 1975. 
It is under Chitepo’s stewardship that ZANU sought to propagate its Ideological foundations and bring about clarity in the Party cadreship about the philosophical underpinnings upon which an independent Zimbabwe would be built.
The Chitepo School of Ideology is the ZANU PF Party School that was first established during the Liberation Struggle to promote social cohesion between the Freedom Fighters and the general masses in the fight against the oppression of the white colonial system.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Doctors, Nurses To Undergo ZANU PF Ideological Orientation

The Government is yet to fulfill its promise made in September 2021 to offer land to medical practitioners in private practice across the country’s 10 provinces.
In 2021, the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Zimbabwe Association (MDPPZA) wrote to President Emmerson Mnangagwa requesting land and import duty exemptions.
The Government acceded to the request and directed provincial lands officers through their respective Provincial Affairs ministries to offer land to the medical practitioners.
However, almost two years later, not a single doctor has been given a piece of land by the Government.
MDPPZA president Johannes Marisa on Thursday confirmed the issue to <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200010762/govt-yet-to-honour-doctors-land-pledge">NewsDay</a>. He said:
<blockquote>
We are getting different responses from the provincial lands offices, but the bottom line is that none of our members has received any piece of land under this facility.
We have been engaging the provincial lands offices in our respective provinces with nothing coming out.
We want to take this issue above and engage His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
</blockquote>
NewsDay reported that Health deputy minister John Mangwiro and ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri were both not reachable for comment.
Over the past few years, medical practitioners in the public sector have staged strikes over poor working conditions, low salaries, and lack of resources in the health sector.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Govt Reneges On Doctors' Land Pledge

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has condemned the government’s plan to criminalise the recruitment of healthcare workers to work in other countries.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/zimbabwe-s-health-care-workers-condemn-plan-to-criminalize-foreign-recruiters-/7041125.html">VOA</a> on Friday, ZADHR president Norman Matara said that any attempt to prevent healthcare workers from leaving the country for better jobs would be illegal. He said:
<blockquote>
Also our constitution, the Zimbabwe constitution, guarantees citizens have the right to move freely within the country or leave the country.
We don’t know why those comments were made by the honorable minister of health.
The government continues to use scare tactics and command approach to solving healthcare problems.
The government should note that health workers are not being pulled away from the country but pushed away from the country by the meager salaries they are getting. They are being pushed by the worsening economic crisis in the country.
They are being pushed by poor working conditions: lack of equipment, lack of sundries, and lack of medicines in the hospitals that they work in.
We urge the government to improve working conditions, and pay a living wage, you will find that people will not leave the country.
</blockquote>
Last week Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Childcare, said the country will enact a law to make it illegal for other countries to hire healthcare workers from Zimbabwe.
Chiwenga also said the drain of healthcare professionals was as good as human trafficking and a crime against humanity.
Eustina Shava, a nurse who is leaving Zimbabwe in May for better work in Canada, told VOA that foreign recruiters are doing nothing wrong and their work should therefore not be criminalised. She said:
<blockquote>
If we were given enough money, I don’t think anybody would love to leave their families, their relatives and work abroad.
But at the end of the day, we all want to achieve good things in life. We all want to buy houses, we all want to buy cars and we all want to send our children to good schools.
That’s the reason we are reaching out to recruiters. They have done nothing wrong. They are actually helping us to achieve certain things in life.
</blockquote>
Reports indicate that more than 4 000 nurses and doctors have left Zimbabwe since February 2021.
Last month, the UK stopped the recruitment of Zimbabwean health workers. This was after Zimbabwe was placed by the World Health Organisation on the red list.
WHO red list designation means that the country is facing serious health personnel challenges.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Doctors For Human Rights Condemn Plan To Criminalise Recruitment Of Healthcare Workers By Foreigners

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has said the government plans to enact a law criminalising the recruitment of health personnel from Zimbabwe by other countries.
Chiwenga, who also doubles as the Minister of Health and Childcare, said the drain of healthcare professionals was as good as human trafficking.
Speaking on Wednesday, Chiwenga said stiffer penalties will be imposed on those he accused of committing a “heinous crime” of recruiting nurses and doctors from Zimbabwe. BBC quoted Chiwenga as saying:
<blockquote>
If one deliberately recruits and makes the country suffer, that’s a crime against humanity.
People are dying in hospitals because there are no nurses and doctors. That must be taken seriously.
Zimbabwe frowns at this heinous crime which is also a grave violation of human rights.
</blockquote>
Reports indicate that more than 4 000 nurses and doctors have left Zimbabwe since February 2021.
Last month, the UK stopped the recruitment of Zimbabwean health workers. This was after Zimbabwe was placed by the World Health Organisation on the red list.
WHO red list designation means that the country is facing serious health personnel challenges.
Zimbabwean nurses and doctors are being forced to look for jobs abroad as recurrent economic challenges have seen wages decimated by endless inflation.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Recruitment Of Zimbabwean Nurses A Crime Against Humanity - VP Chiwenga

Zimbabwean nurses and doctors have expressed despair after the World Health Organisation (WHO) banned the recruitment of health professionals from Zimbabwe.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/health/article/200009362/nurses-fret-over-global-recruitment-ban">NewsDay</a>, Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union (ZPNU) secretary-general Douglas Chikobvu said the massive brain drain in the health sector is due to poor salaries. Said Chikobvu:
<blockquote>
As it stands, the future of Zimbabwean nurses set to leave for greener pastures has been dealt a big blow.
The government has been sort of abusive in how (it is) handling the plight of nurses.
Instead of addressing the root causes, (it is) coming up with a raft of measures to tie our already impoverished and starving nurses.
The reason for the massive brain drain is due to measly wages. What we all expected the government to do was to swiftly address bread and butter issues by awarding nurses a living wage in US dollars.
</blockquote>
Following the move by WHO, the United Kingdom placed Zimbabwe on the Red List which means that active recruitment is not permitted from the southern African country.
Active international recruitment in the code is defined as the process by which UK health and social care employers target individuals to market UK employment opportunities, with the intention of recruiting to a role in the UK health or social care sector.
It includes both physical or virtual targeting, and whether or not these actions lead to substantive employment.
According to the latest statistics by the UK’s Office of National Statistics, at least 3 000 Zimbabwean health professionals left the country for the UK in the past two years.
Zimbabwe was among the top five countries that registered the highest number of citizens granted work visas to Britain during the same period.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Global Recruitment Ban A Huge Blow - Zimbabwean Nurses

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the World Health Organisation (WHO) has promised to avail funds to assist Zimbabwe to train more nurses and doctors to alleviate the brain drain in the medical sector.
Mnangagwa said this while addressing thousands of ZANU PF supporters, Johanne Marange apostolic sect members, and schoolchildren at the ground-breaking and fundraising ceremony of St Noah College in Marange on Wednesday. <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200008518/who-will-bail-us-out-ed">NewsDay</a> quoted Mnangagwa as saying:
<blockquote>
Our Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga was attending the ministers of health meeting in Switzerland and the WHO said they are aware that we are losing our doctors and nurses. The WHO said they will give us funds to recruit more nurses and doctors.
Our children, doctors, nurses and accountants and other professionals are being taken by other countries because they are educated. They are being taken by London, Australia, Canada and America.
</blockquote>
8 363 medical professionals were granted work visas by the United Kingdom between 2019 and September 2022.
Since last year, more than 2 200 nurses and doctors have left the country, according to the Health Services Board.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

WHO Promised To Fund Training Of Doctors And Nurses In Zimbabwe - Mnangagwa

The Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA) says doctors who work in government hospitals should not be allowed to operate private businesses such as private hospitals, pharmacies and others as it may be in conflict with their duties and responsibilities.
ACT-SA director, Obert Chinhamo said medical personnel employed by the government now spend most of their business hours working at their private businesses thereby negatively affecting service delivery in government hospitals. Chinhamo was quoted by <a href="https://healthtimes.co.zw/2023/02/28/zim-anti-corruption-group-wants-doctors-banned-from-running-private-surgeries-and-pharmacies/">Health Times</a> as saying:
<blockquote>
ACT-SA is disturbed by reports that medical personnel especially doctors spend most of their time at their private establishments when they are supposed to be at government hospitals.
Sick patients queue for long hours waiting for them to come. In some cases, even when they come, they refer patients to their private businesses where these poor patients are forced to pay a lot of money.
My organisation proposes that no medical personnel should be allowed to open private businesses that conflict with their duties and responsibilities as civil servants.
In addition to improved remuneration, this is the only way that medical personnel could be found at work all the time when their services are needed most.
ACT-SA has for several years been receiving reports that doctors and other medical personnel are not found at work when patients come.
These patients who can not afford paying private doctors queue for long hours without being served.
It it because of this observation that ACT-SA calls for policy and law reform to prevent conflict of interest and improve service delivery.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Anti-Corruption Group Wants Doctors Banned From Operating Private Surgeries

The United Kingdom is raiding its former colony Zimbabwe for key public sector workers: nurses, doctors and teachers, according to Zimbabwe-based writer, Ashley Simango.
The writer who got an honourable mention at the 2021 Arrude Jesuit Center For Ethics in Society High School Essay Competition, says it is “cruel for the UK to “poach” Zimbabwe’s key health sector personnel. 
In an article first published by <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/2/8/zimbabwe-is-bleeding-doctors-teachers-to-the-uk-whos-to-blame">Al Jazeera</a>, Simango whose writings on diplomacy and economics appeared in Newsweek, Fast Company, The New Arab and The Africa Report said:
<blockquote>
This is cruel. It appears unstoppable. Yet it also captures a vicious cycle in which foreign aid meant to help countries like Zimbabwe strengthen their education and health systems is undermined by migration of trained talent to those very same donor nations.
More than 4,000 nurses and doctors have left Zimbabwe since February 2021. The UK is by far the destination of choice: data from the British Home Office in 2022 reveals that Zimbabwe is now in the top five skilled worker visa recipient countries.
This is a big drain. According to the Zimbabwe Medical Association, the country has a paltry 3,500 doctors for a population of 15 million people. Access to nurses is poor, too — just 2.6 per 1,000 people as of 2017, reveals the World Bank. In a key 1,000-bed public hospital, managers told reporters that services were crippled when dozens of nurses and doctors left for the UK in 2021.
Of course, the UK — like any other country — must look after its interests first. But the imbalance between a $3.2 trillion economy (the UK) and a $28bn economy (Zimbabwe) is such that the scramble for medical personnel isn’t a fair contest.
</blockquote>
Simango added that despite the woes of the National Health Service (NHS), the UK still has 8.5 nurses per 1 000 people — more than three times the number in Zimbabwe. Added the writer:
<blockquote>
And poaching talent from a country like Zimbabwe comes cheap. The UK spends £230,000 ($281,000) in training each doctor — much of which it saves when it imports trained and skilled medical professionals.
Simply put, at a time when healthcare workers are leaving the NHS in droves because of poor pay and conditions, the British government — instead of addressing their concerns — is plundering doctors and nurses from former colonies like Zimbabwe.
</blockquote>
Her remarks come after the UK announced that from February 2023, Zimbabwe will join a select group of nations and territories whose educators will be eligible to get <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/zimbabwean-teachers-eligible-to-apply-for-qualified-teacher-status-in-england-starting-2023/">Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)</a> which would allow them to work long-term as teachers in the UK.
Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa are the only other African nations on the list. 
Teacher unions in Zimbabwe fear that many of the country’s 135 000 public school teachers might be tempted to take up posts in the UK. 
For the last four decades, Zimbabwe has boasted one of Africa’s most impressive post-colonial educational outcomes with the World Economic Forum ranking it fourth-best on the continent in 2016.
Simango also puts the blame on the Zimbabwean government which she says is unable to pay doctors, nurses and teachers living wages, a factor pushing them to seek greener pastures.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

"UK Is Raiding, Its Former Colony Zimbabwe For Nurses, Doctors And Teachers, This Is Cruel"

Zimbabwe’s health workers have condemned a new law that outlaws any industrial action, saying it will exacerbate the exodus of health professionals.
The Health Service Amendment Act which came into force on Tuesday prohibits health workers who are classified as an “essential” service from striking for more than three days.
The Act stipulates that those who do not comply face a fine or imprisonment of up to six months.
Enock Dongo, president of the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) said the new piece of legislation takes away health workers’ right to protest. He said:
<blockquote>
After the rejection of the bill by various stakeholders, they still went ahead to pass it. It is very unfortunate. The right to protest has been taken away.
… They tried to be clever, saying we are allowed to strike for three days, but we all know that even when we down tools for more days they do not want to negotiate.
</blockquote>
According to the Health Services Board (HSB), Zimbabwe has lost more than 4,000 doctors and nurses to the UK and other countries since 2021. Said Dongo:
<blockquote>
When you threaten health workers with jail, how do you expect them to discharge their duties?
This will affect every citizen, nurses will just adopt a ‘go-slow’ [approach to work].
</blockquote>
Norman Matara, the president of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) said:
<blockquote>
This law has taken us two steps backward. We have been trying to fight brain drain. 
Further frustration of health workers would lead to more people leaving. This bill will bring more negatives than positives.
This bill was widely rejected by all health professionals and even after the parliamentary consultations, this bill was rejected by the people.
To see the bill being drafted into law without amendments is quite sad.
</blockquote>
Government health workers have been demanding a living wage of US$540 a month but the government has said it cannot afford to meet their demands.
Nurses in Zimbabwe are paid less than US$100 a month excluding allowances. | <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/12/health-workers-in-zimbabwe-dismayed-as-law-curbing-strikes-is-passed">The Guardian</a>

Health Workers In Zimbabwe Condemn Law Curbing Strikes

President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week signed into law the Health Services Amendment Bill which among other things, makes it illegal for government health workers to embark on industrial action lasting more than three days.
The Health Service Amendment Act stipulates that during job action, government health workers must continue to provide emergency services.
Under the Act, the old Health Services Board (HSB) was upgraded to a full commission, that is, the Health Services Commission (HSC) which set health workers’ conditions of service.
Health workers are now independent of the Public Services Commission (PSC), just like the judiciary, defence forces and police.
The restrictions on the health workers’ right to strike are contained in Section 16A of the new Act which says health services shall be deemed an essential service as defined in the Constitution. It reads:
<blockquote>
Notwithstanding anything in the Labour Act, the Health Service shall be deemed as an essential service referred to in section 65(3) of the Constitution.
No collective job action, whether lawful or unlawful, shall continue for an uninterrupted period of 72 hours or for more than 72 hours in any given 14-day period and notice of any collective job action must be given in writing 48 hours prior to the commencement of such collective job action.
</blockquote>
The Act says anyone inciting or organising collective job action in defiance of the new conditions can be tried for a criminal offence and if found guilty fined up to level four or jailed for six months.
Government workers are permitted to go on strike but during job action, they must provide the skill, expertise, care and service to patients in a medical emergency or needing critical or intensive care. | <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/prolonged-health-workers-strikes-now-illegal/">The Herald</a>

Govt Outlaws Prolonged Strikes By Health Workers

Doctors, nurses and other health workers employed by the government have been threatened with dismissals if they go on strike for more than three days.
The Health Services Commission (HSC), which replaced the Health Services Board (HSB), issued the threat in a leaked memo.
According to the memo, strikes must not take more than 72 hours if they ever happen. Part of the memo reads:
<blockquote>
Health Services Board has been replaced by the Health Services Commission. Health services are classified as critical services and no one should be denied access to emergency services or ICU services, even during a strike.
Striking by health workers is almost impossible. If a strike happens, it must not last more than 72 hours.
All those intending to strike must give the HSC a 48-hour written notice.
HSC has the power to deregister any member from professional body registers after disciplinary procedures.
</blockquote>
Thousands of Zimbabwean health workers have left the country for greener pastures over the past few years.
In the past, the government has fired health workers for taking part in industrial action demanding living wages.
In August 2022, the Ministry of Health and Child Care fired Robert Emmanuel Chiduku, the leader of the Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union (ZPNU).
Chiduku was found guilty on charges of conducting Union business during business hours on work premises without the employer’s consent. | <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/public-health-workers-given-stern-warning-over-strikes/">NewZimbabwe.com</a>

Govt Health Workers Warned Over Strikes

Doctors and Nurses for Economic Development (Doctors and Nurses For ED), working in partnership with Bulawayo-based businessman, Brian Samuriwo, are offering free health care services and drugs.
Five doctors, two laboratory scientists, counsellors and 15 nurses from Bulawayo’s central hospitals, under the banner Doctors and Nurses for ED, were offering free health care services at Chigumira Shopping Centre in Luveve suburb last Sunday.
The Deputy National Chairperson for Doctors and Nurses for ED, Dr Isheunesu Makwambeni, said:
<blockquote>
We are providing Voluntary Testing and Counselling (VTC), and general consultations and we have a small pharmacy where we are providing drugs.
This programme is ongoing; we are visiting all the districts in Bulawayo.
We are mainly targeting the elderly with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. We are also doing HIV testing targeting the youths.
As doctors and nurses for ED, we decided to offer our services for free so that those who cannot afford such services are not denied the right to access health care services.
</blockquote>
One of the beneficiaries of the programme, Gogo Mpofu, who said she was diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and diabetes a few years ago, said:
<blockquote>
I want to thank the sponsors of this programme because most of us as the elderly at times cannot afford to buy medication.
We benefited from free health care services and medication which in some cases is very expensive.
We want to thank the Government, ZANU PF and Mr Brian Samuriwo whom we are told sponsored this programme.
Today I got the tablets for free and I am overwhelmed by this generosity.
</blockquote>
Samuriwo said by assisting the elderly and children under the age of five, he was giving back to the community. | <a href="https://www.chronicle.co.zw/doctors-for-ed-offer-free-health-care-to-senior-citizens/">Chronicle</a>

Doctors And Nurses For ED Offer Free Health Care

Doctors based at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, which is Zimbabwe’s largest referral hospital, have requested a meeting with authorities at the hospital over the deteriorating conditions.
In a letter addressed to the hospital’s chief executive officer Ernest Manyawu, the doctors said the hospital had no basic medicines, even for primary care. Part of the letter reads:
<blockquote>
As healthcare practitioners, we spent innumerable years in school training to serve our people.
However, the critical lack of consumables in our hospital is rendering us ineffective as we can no longer deliver the services required at the tertiary hospital.
… We often run out of and lack basic sundries which should be available even at primary institutions.
To mention a few, there have been shortages or lack of yellow cannulas, 5ml and 10ml syringes, sterile gloves, betadine, cotton wool strapping, catheters, and urine bags.
Our U&amp;E machine (urea and electrolytes) is always down, the most common being no reagents, sometimes no water or it’s a mechanical issue.
</blockquote>
In an interview with <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200004373/doctors-flag-pari-decline-as-on-call-doctors-sleep-in-cars">NewsDay</a> on Wednesday night, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals spokesperson Linos Dhire confirmed that authorities had received the letter. He said:
<blockquote>
I can confirm that we have received the letter and authorities are meeting the doctors tomorrow to discuss the issues.
</blockquote>

Doctors' Letter Exposes Deteriorating Conditions At Parirenyatwa Hospital

More than 4 000 health workers have left the country since 2021, the Health Services Board (HSB) has revealed.
HSB chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikosana on Sunday told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/over-4000-zimbabwean-doctors-nurses-left-country-2021-2022-11-20/">Reuters</a> that those who left over the past year include 1 700 registered nurses who resigned last year and more than 900 who left this year.
A large number of doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe have found work mainly in Britain, Australia and regional countries such as Namibia.
Zimbabwe’s health workers went on a week-long strike in June this year demanding to be paid in US dollars as inflation further weakened the local currency.
On Sunday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the government has to improve remuneration and conditions of service for medical practitioners to curb brain drain in the health sector.
Writing in his weekly column published in <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/president-pledges-to-improve-doctors-salaries/">The Sunday News</a>, Mnangagwa said the government will give land for free to those who wished to set up medical facilities. He said:
<blockquote>
We have to competitively reward our doctors in order to guarantee greater staff retention in our hospitals, and in the country.
Many of our doctors continue to leave the country for greener pastures; they are hotly sought after, particularly in the rich West, because of their superior training facilities.
The Second Republic has to treat in-country medical staff retention as a foremost national goal.
More visible and substantive steps will be taken in the near future to improve the working conditions for our medical staff.
</blockquote>

Over 4 000 Zimbabwean Doctors And Nurses Left The Country In 2021

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that the government has to improve remuneration and conditions of service for medical practitioners to curb brain drain in the health sector.
Writing in his weekly column published in <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/president-pledges-to-improve-doctors-salaries/">The Sunday News</a>, Mnangagwa said the government will give land for free to those who wished to set up medical facilities. He said:
<blockquote>
We have to competitively reward our doctors in order to guarantee greater staff retention in our hospitals, and in the country.
Many of our doctors continue to leave the country for greener pastures; they are hotly sought after, particularly in the rich West, because of their superior training facilities.
The Second Republic has to treat in-country medical staff retention as a foremost national goal.
More visible and substantive steps will be taken in the near future to improve the working conditions for our medical staff.
</blockquote>
Mnangagwa bemoaned the doctor-to-patient ratio in the country which he said was too low. He said:
<blockquote>
The number of medical practitioners in the country remains unsatisfactorily low. I am told we have 3 777 registered medical practitioners in the country.
Of this number, 1 982 are General Medical Officers; 713 are specialists; 250 are dentists, while 627 are interns. We have to boost our medical corps.
This programme will continue until every village and community is within reach of a medical facility, for basic health provisioning.
Alongside this thrust, we continue to invest in district hospitals until the goal of a fully functional hospital for each district is met.
I also wish to see more and more mobile healthcare services reaching remote communities.
We have done that in the past, allowing mobile clinics manned by specialist doctors to reach such historically disadvantaged communities for superior care.
As in other sectors, no person and no community should be left behind.
</blockquote>
He said the government is building rural health facilities in both urban and rural areas, with some projects funded through Devolution Funds.

ED Pledges To Improve Doctors' Salaries To Curb Brain Drain

Doctors at government hospitals such as Bulawayo’s Mpilo Central Hospital are demanding bribes of up to US$700 to conduct surgeries on patients, a Member of Parliament has claimed.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Thursday while raising a matter of national interest, Makokoba MP James Sithole said bribe-taking by doctors in public health institutions is a sign of decay in the delivery systems. He said:
<blockquote>
I will give an example of what is happening at Mpilo Central Hospital.
I am referring to corrupt activities, which are unnecessarily exposing patients that are already suffering to more suffering and to premature death.
There are patients that have been in the queue to go to the theatre since December 31, 2021, and they have not been able to have the opportunity to go to the theatre.
The reason is that each time their allocated dates arrive to go to the theatre, excuses are given.
They are told that there are no doctors to attend to them; they are told that there are no necessary materials in the theatre; they are told that their temperature is too high for them to go to the theatre.
However, the truth is that it is because they would have not paid a bribe to doctors that range between (US)$300 to (US$) 700 or more.
Surprisingly, doctors are able to carry out procedures using the same theatres on their private patients without paying anything to the hospital.
</blockquote>
Sithole said that the X-ray machine and the scanner are said to be broken down most of the time adding that this is a pretext for sending patients to private facilities run by the same doctors. He said:
<blockquote>
So, if ever anyone is lucky at that time to be attended to, when they get to the other end where the doctor is looking at the X-ray picture, the patient is told the X-ray is not clear because the X-ray machine is faulty.
So they are referred to facilities outside or private operators where they have to do another X-ray.
On the scanning machine, pregnant mothers who have to do a scan are told that there is no jelly but surprisingly, again, the officer operating the scan will be having their private jelly.
They only attend to their private patients from their private practice, but who come and use the hospital scan with the jelly.
Anyone referred by Mpilo is told that there is no jelly, yet those coming from outside who will be their private patients will be attended to.
</blockquote>
Sithole concluded by requesting that the Ministry of Health and Child Care carry out an investigation and bring a ministerial statement to the National Assembly.
National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda said Sithole had raised “a fundamental and profound observation.”
He said Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care, would be asked to table a ministerial statement in the National Assembly to explain what was being done to curb corruption in public hospitals. | <a href="https://vicfallslive.co.zw/index.php/2022/11/05/mpilo-doctors-demanding-bribes-from-patients-parliament-told/">VicFallsLive</a>

"Government Doctors Demanding Bribes From Patients"

The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has received approval from authorities to increase its enrolment for its medical and health sciences school from the current 25 to 60 per intake.
The Medical School, housed at Mpilo Central Hospital, was introduced in 2012 and has since produced four sets of graduates.
NUST School of Medicine Executive Dean, Professor Elopy Sibanda confirmed the development to the <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/nust-to-increase-school-of-medicine-intake/">Sunday News</a> on Tuesday. He said:
<blockquote>
We have been allowed to increase our enrolment to 60. For the first couple of years, we were being monitored where our quality was being assured.
The authorities were satisfied that we produce quality graduates and now they can allow us to increase our number.
The increase in the number is still a small dot, we could have been able to increase more but we do not have premises at the moment as our campus is yet to be constructed.
The level of demand is very high and the candidates are very highly qualified and therefore I think if we could expand the services we would be able to offer more.
There is a World Health Organisation-recommended patient-to-doctor ratio which we can achieve if we are able to train more people.
We have Ekusileni Hospital which is meant to be a queenary hospital that is earmarked to do specialist services.
As such we need to train these specialists so that patients do not go out of the country.
</blockquote>

NUST To Increase Medical And Health Sciences School Intake

Members of Parliament on Wednesday confronted Vice President and Health and Childcare Minister Constantino Chiwenga over the state of the country’s health sector.
Zimbabwe’s health sector is experiencing a massive brain drain and thousands of health professionals leave the country for greener pastures. The sector is also underfunded.
This also comes as Zimbabweans living near the country’s borders are being forced to seek medical treatment in neighbouring countries such as South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique.
Mutare Central MP Innocent Gonese (CCC) said the brain drain in the health sector was a cause for concern. He said:
<blockquote>
Our doctors and nurses are leaving the country and one of the reasons is the issue of the poor health sector.
A lot of doctors indicated that sometimes they do not have the tools of trade and these are some of the issues which we want an independent commission (to inquire into).
</blockquote>
Kambuzuma MP Willias Madzimure (CCC), also contributing to the debate on the Health Services Amendment Bill which is before Parliament, said:
<blockquote>
The fact that our health workers are leaving the country in their numbers is an indication that something is not right. We cannot pay a blind eye to that.
</blockquote>
The Health Services Amendment Bill seeks to align the Health Service Act to the Constitution.
Chiwenga told MPs that the Bill was necessary to address the concerns of healthcare workers, which include the improvement of their conditions of service, as well as deliver the best health system for Zimbabweans. | <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200002253/mps-confront-chiwenga-over-nurses-mass-exodus">NewsDay</a>

MPs Confront VP Chiwenga Over Brain Drain

Public sector healthcare workers have resolved to resume duty after giving the Government a 14-day ultimatum to address their concerns.
Health workers across the country have been on strike since Monday in protest over low salaries and poor working conditions.
In a letter dated 24 June 2022, addressed to the chairperson of the Health Service Board (HSB), Health Apex Team leader Dr Tapiwanashe Kusotera said they have decided to call off the strike to prevent any further loss of life. The letter reads:
<blockquote>
RESUMPTION OF DUTY PENDING FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS
Following our first Health Bipartite Negotiating Panel meeting on Monday, the 20th of June in which the matters of conditions of service were discussed, the Workers were disappointed to note that the Health Service Board had preferred to wait 14 months without engaging the workers until the workers had reached a point of despair and had no choice but to withdraw their service in a desperate attempt to draw the employer’s attention to the plight of the workers.
The workers are cognisant of the human cost of such actions. 
It is never the intention of the healthcare workers to walk away from those who need their help.
We firmly believe that this could have been avoided had the Health Service Board meaningfully engaged the workers.
The workers were also disappointed to note that the employer did not present an offer at that meeting nor have they done so to date. 
This morning, the leaders of the health associations met to assess the impact of our actions and progress towards the resolution of the impasse.
It was noted with great concern, the delay in further engagement by the employer and attempts by some authorities to threaten and victimise the workers.
This is most unfortunate. Asking for a living wage should never be viewed as a crime.
The employees also considered the long-suffering public who have struggled to access much-needed healthcare services in these difficult economic times.
Many of whom lack the means to seek health care services elsewhere.
The leaders of the Health Associations after considering the plight of the public, have resolved to TEMPORARILY adjourn the industrial action and request the healthcare workers to resume service.
This has been done to prevent any further loss of life.
It is the hope of the employees that the employer will immediately table a meaningful offer, addressing all the matters raised by the workers.
Should the employer fail to table a meaningful offer, one that addresses the plight of the worker within 14 DAYS from receipt of this letter, the employees will have no option left but to withdraw service without notice.
We have taken this decision in good faith, that the employer will engage with us.
We believe that the “ball” is now in the employer’s court Health APEX Council.
It is our sincere prayer, that any further industrial action may be avoided.
We hope that the employer will choose to partner with the workers to resuscitate Zimbabwe’s ailing healthcare system.
</blockquote>

Health Workers Call Off Strike "To Prevent Any Further Loss Of Life"

The Zimbabwe Health Apex Council has notified members of the public that its members (government health workers) have decided to withdraw their labour starting on Monday, 20 June 2022 citing incapacitation.
In an open letter to the public this Friday, the Health Apex Council said their employer has refused to meet them since April 2021 and they are left with no option but to embark on industrial action. The letter reads:
<blockquote>
As the government health workers of Zimbabwe, it is with regret that we inform the general public that we have taken a decision to withdraw our labour effective Monday, 20 June 2022.
It is not a decision that was taken lightly, we are fully cognisant of the human costs related to any action of this kind but the conditions of service, specifically the remuneration of healthcare workers is presently so poor that most health workers can no longer afford the service they provide and nor are they able to look after and fend for their families.
It is common knowledge that the economic conditions prevailing in the country have rapidly deteriorated especially over the last three months.
This is something that the government has acknowledged and is reflected by the government’s continued review of tariffs and expenses.
State-related enterprises have also reviewed their tariffs on a continued basis. Recent examples include the increases in electricity and fuel prices, toll fees and vehicle licensing fees to mention a few.
Even the government itself has reviewed and increased the prices of hospital services, rating them against the interbank rate. There can be no greater acknowledgement by the health authorities regarding the loss of value than this.
Inflation has skyrocketed and is now greater than 130%, year on year. The property datum line for a small family of six now sits at $133,000 ZWL. Even the highest-earning healthcare workers now earn far less than this.
The decision to withdraw service has only come after repeated efforts to engage the employer, the Health Service Board and the Ministry of Health and Childcare, pleading with them to review the conditions of service of health workers.
To date, we have written more than five letters over the last 14 months requesting meetings, to engage on how to improve the conditions of service and improve the morale of the healthcare workers.
Yet to date, we’ve not had a single meeting with the Health Service Board in 14 months. 
Other civil servants have enjoyed the company of their minister but this is not the case with the health workers.
As workers, there has not been a single meeting with the Minister of Health and Child care since his appointment.
The Health Service Board chairperson has also been hostile to health workers and has repeatedly refused our calls to engage with him.
Not only that, the government continues to spread lies and misinformation about the current conditions of service for healthcare workers.
The minister of finance publicly refers to free meals, free transport and free accommodation, all of which are not subsisting on the ground.
The government prefers to award unilaterally, token increases which do not meaningfully improve the conditions of service.
They prefer to misinform the public, quoting percentage increases without specifying the actual value of the increases. The last of which was a token 20% increase awarded in February 2022.
The prevailing poor conditions of service have caused a significant brain drain within the health sector, with more than 4000 resignations in the last three years.
Instead of engaging with the workers, the health authorities through the Ministry of Health have drafted and released a barrage of draconian measures designed to stem the outflow of health workers.
They have illegally prevented the issuance of Certificates of Good standing for doctors which are needed for doctors seeking employment or further training abroad.
They have also centralized and withheld the provision of Letters of Verification for Nurses.
They drafted the recently rejected Health services amendment act without consulting health workers.
This proposed amendment had a single objective of removing the workers’ rights to express their frustrations to industrial action.
We applaud Parliament for rejecting this draft amendment as it clearly does not address the root cause of the health crisis known to all.
All of this has led to extremely low morale among the healthcare workers. We can go as far as to say that it’s an undesirable situation to be cared for by an unhappy health worker.
The current impasse could easily be avoided if the employer and the health service board decided to engage the health workers meaningfully.
It is our prayer that this withdrawal of service is brief, in order to limit the unnecessary inconvenience to the public who depend on our healthcare services.
</blockquote>

Govt Healthcare Workers Declare Incapacitation

The Zimbabwe Health Apex Council has declared incapacitation of health workers and has declared withdrawal of on-call, call out/standby and night duties with immediate effect.
In a letter addressed to the Health Services Board on Wednesday, 23 February, the Health Apex Council said it reached the decision after their employer refused to negotiate on improving health workers’ working conditions over the past two years.
Among issues raised by the Health Apex Council is the Government’s failure to review the non-claimable health sector-specific allowances, i.e. on-call, call out/standby, night duty, nurse managers and special health allowances for the past two years. Part of the letter reads:
<blockquote>
These allowances ceased in 2020 and have now contributed to the en-masse exodus of health workers. There is little incentive to continue going for work in the health sector.
COVID-19 risk allowances… were last reviewed in 2020 and as such are now very negligible considering the exposure of the health workers during this pandemic Health workers never stopped reporting for duty even when most public servants were at home.
Vehicle loan scheme… was agreed upon in CBA1 of 2019 and it was unilaterally stopped by the employer.
20% cost of living adjustment… made in February 2022 provided little relief to the socio-economic status of the health workers.
</blockquote>
The development comes a few weeks after teachers declared incapacitation, citing a rise in the cost of living and demanding the restoration of their pre-October 2018 salaries of US$540.
The Government awarded civil servants a 20 per cent salary increase, which teachers rejected as inadequate and the impasse was broken after the Public Service Commission (PSC) threatened to fire all teachers who failed to report for duty by Tuesday, 22 February.
<h4>More: <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a></h4>

Health Workers Declare Incapacitation.

Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga says the Government is prioritising improving the conditions of service for health care workers.
Speaking on public health and national security in Zimbabwe at the Zimbabwe National Defence University to participants of the national defence course 10/2021 on Thursday, Chiwenga said the Government also wants to ensure the equitable distribution of healthcare workers across the country. He said:
<blockquote>
The effect is that quality of care is compromised and over-burdening staff, resulting in burnout, with undesirable consequences on client satisfaction, in respect to service received.
Equitable distribution of staff, particularly specialists, remains a challenge. Most specialists are in the major cities of Harare and Bulawayo. Attracting specialists to other cities has not been very successful.
Some of the reasons given for not taking up posts in smaller cities and towns include inadequate accommodation, lack of opportunities for private practice and unavailability of school facilities for children.
Subsequently, there is a view that Government wants everything to happen in Harare and Bulawayo, which has obvious subjective ramifications when judging Government performance and social cohesion.
At this point, let me underscore that Government is committed to improving the conditions of service for health care personnel so that everyone is motivated to work in any part of the country.
</blockquote>
He said this is being done among other things through the availing of accommodation for the workers.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/health-workers-welfare-a-priority-vp/">The Herald</a></h4>

Govt Committed To Improving Health Workers' Welfare - Chiwenga

The Government has resolved to teach healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses patriotism in a bid to finally put to an end perennial strikes which disrupt the public health delivery system.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists in Harare on Tuesday that Cabinet had approved the introduction of “the National Health Service Training and Induction Modules under the Public Service Academy.” Said Mutsvangwa:
<blockquote>
The envisaged training programmes will, therefore, equip healthcare workers with correct standard operating procedures in the discharge of their duties, improved and efficient management skills, and patriotism that promote transparency, accountability and good governance and a high-performance work culture that goes beyond the call of duty.
</blockquote>
She said the public health service orientation will “include areas on national heritage, patriotism, Vision 2030, legal and policy framework governing the health sector, management skills development and conflict management.”
Doctors and nurses have in the past staged debilitating strikes, demanding better working conditions but the Government has responded with heavy-handedness.
Last year, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga who doubles as Health and Child Care minister decreed that doctors must be recruited as military officers for them to work in public hospitals.
The country’s constitution does not allow members of the security forces to engage in collective bargaining or to join unions.
<h4>More: <a href="https://vicfallslive.co.zw/index.php/2021/10/27/in-zimbabwe-health-workers-will-be-taught-patriotism-to-stop-brain-drain-strikes/">VicFallsLive</a></h4>

Doctors, Nurses To Be Taught Patriotism

Zimbabwe’s senior doctors on Wednesday criticised the government for extending the Level 4 COVID-19 lockdown, calling it “unscientific” in the face of declining infections and hospitalisations.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, in a statement on Tuesday night, announced that the lockdown has been extended by a further two weeks.
Mutsvangwa said the decision was “necessitated by the realisation that although there has been a notable decrease in the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths, more efforts are required to contain the third wave of the pandemic.”
The Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors Association, in a short statement on Wednesday, criticised the latest extension. The doctors said:
<blockquote>
Data from the ministry of health clearly shows Covid-19 infections well below the resurgence threshold.
Most Covid hospitals countrywide have significantly reduced admissions. Lockdown has achieved its aims.
If we are basing decisions on stats and science, what’s the justification for the extension?
</blockquote>
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Childcare reported 319 new COVID-19 infections and 27 deaths. It also said the test positivity rate had fallen to just 4.4 per cent.
The lockdown has also hit businesses, with opening hours restricted between 8 AM and 3.30 PM.
Bars remain closed, sporting events are banned and churches have only just been allowed to re-open but only for the fully vaccinated.
A dusk to dawn curfew is also being enforced by the police.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/2021/08/25/zimbabwes-senior-doctors-fume-over-unscientific-lockdown-extension/">Zimlive</a></h4>

Senior Doctors Fume Over "Unscientific" Lockdown Extension

The government has gazetted amendments to the Health Services Act which ban doctors and nurses working in public health institutions from going on strike for an uninterrupted period spanning more than three days.
The amendments to the Act, which were gazetted on Friday, once passed, will also require doctors and nurses to give two days’ notice in writing before embarking on collective job action.
In addition, all health care providers will be required by law to provide care to patients in a medical emergency or needing critical or intensive care while they are on strike.
Under the proposed amendments to the Health Services Act, a worker representative who incites or organises an illegal job action could also face up to three years in jail.
Dr Maxwell Hove, who is the chief director in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, said once passed, the law will allow health care workers to strike for three days and wait for two weeks before embarking on another strike. Said Hove:
<blockquote>Healthcare workers will not be able to go on strike for more than three days and will stay at work for a minimum of two weeks before the law allows them to go on another three-day strike.
In each case no strike can go beyond three days and emergencies will also be covered during every strike.
The amendments also seek to replace the Health Services Board with an independent commission – the Health Services Commission.</blockquote>
The Commission will, among other things, create grades in the health service and fix conditions of service for doctors and nurses.
The proposed changes will designate health care workers as essential service providers as defined under the Labour Act.
The Labour Act designates any service whose interruption endangers the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the public as an essential service.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) president Enoch Dongo said there was a need for Government to consult health care professionals before enacting the amendments.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/doctors-nurses-banned-from-striking/">The Sunday News</a></h4>

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