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.