Commissions Watch 27th March [ZHRC Press Statement on Doctors' Strike] COMMISSIONS WATCH ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION [26th March 2018] Press Statement by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission on the Doctors Strike The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has taken note of and is concerned about the impasse between the Government of Zimbabwe and members of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) who have been on strike since the 1st of March 2018. The stalemate in negotiations has led to a prolonged job action by the doctors, leading to compromised health care. This in turn has led to serious suffering and pain by patients and unfortunate loss of lives in the country. Section 76 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe [link] clearly states that every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has the right to access basic healthcare services. The same Constitution in section 65 also protects labour rights including the right to engage in collective job action. The doctors have taken a position and are indeed exercising this right. In light of the above, the ZHRC implores the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Health Services Board (HSB) to engage the striking personnel to ensure that their grievances are resolved without compromising the right to health, the right to life and access to health care services at Government Hospitals. The Government and the HSB are also urged to ensure that the ongoing dialogue between both parties is conducted in good faith and in the interest of all parties concerned. The fact that this problem recurs almost on an annual basis suggests that previous engagements have not addressed the root cause of the problem. The ZHRC recommends that the Government of Zimbabwe conforms to the Abuja Declaration [link] in which the Heads of State of African Union countries pledged to set a target of allocating at least 15% of their annual budget to improve the Health Sector. This would in no doubt go a long way in improving not only the conditions of service of health service personnel which has become an unresolved perennial issue, but also improve the general health delivery system.

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