2000 nurses quit (26-06-07)

ll as overseas. Health minister, David Parirenyatwa has admitted a massive exodus of nursing staff.
He again expressed concern with the situation in the country’s health sector, where thousands of people are dying daily as a result of lack of personnel and drugs.
“Nurses and doctors are leaving and it is worrying. We are trying to handle the situation more positively and hope we can reduce the severity,” Parirenyatwa said.
A survey showed that despite the recent increases, the situation at major public health institutions has not significantly improved, with most of the departments still closed and patients being asked to go home because of the lack of staff to attend to them. Nurses and junior doctors have been on industrial action for a long time now, demanding salary increases to cope with rampant inflation and have dismissed threats by government that they would be fired as meaningless.
Foreign currency shortages continue to serious affect the importation of vital drugs, further worsening the situation in the health sector.