DOCTORS LAUNCH INDEFINITE STRIKE

Members of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors' Association (HDA) HAVE began an indefinite strike on 12 August 2009 to demand better wages and working conditions. The strike is reportedly affecting the country's four main hospitals in Harare, the capital, and in Bulawayo, paralysing public medical services in the cities. The doctors are pressing the government to increase their salaries to at least US$1,000 with US$500 in allowances, a significant increase from the current flat rate of US$170. The Zimbabwean health ministry has not yet commented on how it will address the strike action.