By Own Correspondent– The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) has written to the Health Services Board (HSB) registering doctor’s grievances regarding conditions of service, and the tragic conditions that they are working under in public hospitals in Zimbabwe without protective materials.

The doctors have also demanded to be paid their salaries in United States dollars for them to be motivated.

The letter, dated May 10, reads in part:

We write on behalf of doctors who are currently serving in government hospitals in Zimbabwe. The letter serves you of the growing dissent and discontent from doctors regarding conditions of service in the hospitals.

We hereby inform the Health Service Board (HSB) the major concerns that have generated this discontent.

… The HSB must also recall that in the work contracts that doctors signed, salaries and allowances were clearly pegged in USD.

We request the HSB to abide by labour laws and honour legally binding agreements.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Health is called to adjust the salaries and remunerate its workers in USD as detailed in contracts.

This will address the main cause of growing frustration and low motivation among doctors as a result of poor salaries.

Below is the full text of the letter: