A long-running pay dispute between the Zimbabwe government and health workers is having a negative impact on service delivery amid revelations on Wednesday that at least seven babies were stillborn in one night at a major public hospital in the capital Harare.
According to a doctor who works at one of the public hospitals, out of eight pregnant women who were admitted at Harare Central Hospital to give birth on Tuesday, “only one went home smiling” while the others had stillbirths.
This was due to a shortage of medical personnel at the hospital as the majority of the nurses downed tools in June following a pay dispute with the government.
The nurses are demanding US dollar salaries, which the government says it cannot afford.
The impasse has left most government hospitals with skeleton staff.
JN/APA