Zimbabwean nurses vow to continue with strike as govt tight-lipped over crisis

There is no end in sight to the crippling strike by health professionals after nurses in government hospitals Friday remained adamant their industrial action will continue until the government addressed their grievances.

They also accused their employer of being insensitive and uncooperative as it was not responding to their correspondence.

"The government has decided to go on silent mode. They are not responding to any of us.

"We have tried to engage with them but it seems they are not willing to cooperate with us," Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) president Enock Dongo told New Zimbabwe on Friday.

"Nurses are not reporting for work. We are still on strike until the problem is fixed. Nurses were given $3,500 last month and it is already gone.

"The government does not care about Zimbabwe; people are dying in hospitals with some being returned home without treatment and the government is not taking any action which just shows that they do not care about the health and well-being of the nation."

Dongo said nurses were not said they were not demanding anything that would make them rich but something that would allow them to lead decent salaries.

"We are not expecting to be rich," he said, adding, "We just need a normal living wage because we all know the economic situation in Zimbabwe, but we have been put on corner. The public is not worried, people are not talking about it when patients are being sent home which means more people are going to die."

"The public has to talk about these issues for the authorities to act."

Doctors and nurses downed tools over a week ago over poor wages and shortage of personal protective clothing.

A knee jerk decision by the government to pacify them with a US$75 monthly allowance in addition to a 50% salary hike did not help matters as they rejected the offer, describing it as measly.