By Own Correspondent

ZIMBABWE Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has lamented poor working conditions in the health sector on the back of calls for the government to improve working conditions.

In a statement, ZADHR said the poor salaries are chiefly behind the causes of poor service delivery in the health care system.

“We continue to urge the government to address the health and safety concerns of health professionals to prioritise the health and wellbeing of health professionals. For years, health workers in Zimbabwe have clamoured for a health service and health workplace that promotes and protects their rights through strengthening infection control protocols and associated provisions for infection control such as personal protective equipment.

“Effective infection control protocols will not only make the workplace a safe place but will contribute to boosting the moral and mental health of health professionals, which have been dented by poor remuneration, dilapidated infrastructure, equipment and shortage of drugs and sundries,” said ZADHR in a statement.

Doctors have repeatedly demanded improvements to their working environments, citing the dangers they face due to inadequate equipment and bad working conditions. Public hospitals in the country which the majority of citizens rely on are short of medical sundries hindering the effective delivery of services.

Zimbabwean health workers have left the country in droves over the past year, a senior official at the Health Services Board (HSB) revealed on Sunday. More than 4,000 health workers have left since 2021, HSB chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikosana told Reuters. This includes more than 1,700 registered nurses who resigned last year and more than 900 who left this year.

Doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe have found work mainly in Britain, leaving the country's health sector in dire straits and local hospitals understaffed.