Doctors in Zambia ignore government's call to end strike

By James Kunda

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) – A protest by Zambian doctors entered the fourth day Monday with medics demanding the government pay their wages and provide employment to medical graduates.

After the protesting doctors ignored the government’s call to end the strike, police scaled up vigil at the University Teaching Hospitals (UTH) in the capital Lusaka early morning. The strike has impaired the healthcare services in hospitals, struggling to contain the pandemic.

The protest started Friday but was deferred after the government started talks with the doctors.

The government Saturday said it was surprised by the continuation of the strike as it was agreed upon that arrears would be paid in phases.

“Recruitment of unemployed medical doctors has started and this process will be completed soon,” Boniface Chimbwali, a permanent secretary in the public service management division, said in a statement.

The license of Resident Doctors Association of Zambia’s (RDAZ) president, Brian Sampa, was suspended Saturday for three months by the Southern African nation’s health council for misconduct.

The association Sunday wrote a letter to Zambian President Edgar Lungu, seeking his help to resolve the issue.

The strike by doctors comes at a time when the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has so far recorded 90,050 infections, 1,278 deaths and 91,752 recoveries.