Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) which represents junior and middle-level doctors has called for fresh talks between the employer and its members saying that the government can meet their demands.
The call comes after the government recently fired 77 doctors for snubbing a disciplinary hearing and for “disobeying a court order” which instructed them to return to work. In a statement, ZHDA said:
Our demands are well within the employer’s means. Government’s luxurious spending; budget surpluses and expensive gatherings show that it has the capacity to capacitate us.
Meanwhile, Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) executive director, Itai Rusike has said that the government should have just opened a new window for negotiations with doctors since dismissing them further cripples the public health sector which has very few doctors already.
Junior and middle-level doctors have been on pay strike since the 3rd of September this year whilst senior doctors and nurses joined the strike only recently.
More: Daily News