Strike hits Zimbabwe's sick

Pedzisayi and her husband had to leave the hospital

By our reporter in Harare

As Pedzisayi Chifamba left hospital yesterday, she looked resigned to death.

Pedzisayi was one of many patients told to leave the Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare because there was no longer anyone to look after them.

With medical staff on strike over pay, hospitals such as Parirenyatwa are failing to cope.

The truth of the matter is that all the four main hospitals across the country are virtually closed

Doctor at Harare Central Hospital

''I am still sick," said Pedzisayi. "Nurses came to us yesterday afternoon and said that all patients must go home because there are no more nurses. They said they can't work without money, and this morning they did not come to work."

The few staff still left in the hospital backed up her claims. ''We don't know what to do if a critically ill patient comes today,'' said a student nurse.

As I watched Pedzisayi's husband support his wife's weary body out of the hospital to look for transport, I could not help wondering how a health system could have gone so gravely wrong.

Empty beds

From a distance, Paritenyatwa Hospital creates the impression of a hospital that works.

The casualty department of Parirenyatwa hospital is almost empty

In the absence of the traditional long queues of patients groaning in deep pain, waiting for help, one could almost be fooled into believing the hospital staff were on top of the situation.

But far from it. The reason for the orderliness is because the hospital is virtually closed.

Ambulances with critically ill or injured patients are being turned away.

Those patients already admitted have been discharged. For some, this means going back home, possibly to die, as private hospitals are unaffordable.

This situation is being repeated throughout the country, as doctors and nurses continue with their indefinite strike to press for a review of their salaries and other allowances.

Yesterday, a patient bled to death in front of his relatives as there was no medical help forthcoming

''The truth of the matter is that all the four main hospitals across the country are virtually closed," said a doctor at Harare Central Hospital.

"We are sending all those who can walk back home, as there is no one to look after them. Ambulances are being turned away and we are not admitting patients."

Unable to cope

Yesterday, at Harare Central Hospital, a patient bled to death in front of his relatives as there was no medical help forthcoming.

Essential operations are being refused

The bereaved relatives almost hit the medical superintendent on duty, demanding an explanation as to why the hospital was letting people die without help.

But there was little they could do - there were only 59 nurses on duty at Harare Central yesterday, out of a daily average of 300.

Consultants found there were no junior doctors to prepare the patients for them, and many trainees could do little without adequate supervision.

Meanwhile, dead bodies are piling up at the mortuaries as there is no one to carry out post mortems.

''We normally have an average of 350 bodies in the mortuary but over the past three days, we have averaged 500," said one of the few doctors still around.

Government to blame

Back at Parirenyatwa Hospital, I could see the nurses on strike, basking in the winter sun in their clean white uniforms.

Striking nurses wait outside the hospital

One doctor said that although he was sorry that lives were being lost, nurses and doctors are grossly underpaid, and they too need to survive in these harsh economic times.

The sad thing about Zimbabwe's health sector is that even at full throttle, when all the nurses and doctors are at work, the sector is still in shambles.

Under-funded, ill-equipped, there is a shortage of everything - doctors, nurses, drugs and ambulances.

Critics accuse President Mugabe's government of failing to get their priorities right. They question the wisdom of buying luxury cars for top army chiefs and government officials when the hospitals are empty.