THE Health Services Bill, seeking to bar health workers from engaging in a strike for over 72 hours, yesterday sailed through Senate and now awaits Presidential assent.
The Bill sailed through the National Assembly and Senate despite resistance from opposition legislators, who condemned it as undemocratic and a violation of labour rights.
Medical practitioners said stopping health workers from striking would further fuel the brain drain as frustrated personnel leave the country for greener pastures.
Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe president Johannes Marisa said: “This is a serious cause of demotivation and with the current brain drain that Zimbabwe is experiencing, it may worsen the (situation in the) country.
“The second one being that of the private sector being forced to attend to emergency cases even though there is no prior treatment. What would happen now is congestion in government hospitals as the private sector will just push the patient to government systems, networks and at the end of the day, you find congestion and a lot of outcry in public institutions where the resources are limited and with demotivated staff or personnel.”
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights executive director Calvin Fambirai said the Bill was unconstitutional.
“It remains unfortunate that despite all the input from stakeholders, the government has remained adamant and wants to continue with the enactment of the Health Services Amendment Bill. There is consensus that it’s unconstitutional and it seeks to stifle the rights of health professionals as guaranteed in the Constitution,” he said.
The Bill seeks to align the Health Service Act to the Constitution.
- Health talk: Be wary of measles, its a deadly disease
- Health talk: Mandatory wearing of masks can now be scrapped
- Health talk: Antimicrobial resistance —Let us stand against it
- Health talk: Health sector bears brunt of power cuts
Keep Reading
- Follow Harriet on Twitter @harrietchikand1
