PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has been accused of ignoring the plight of striking nurses and other health workers leading to a “silent genocide” at public hospitals. The situation has been exacerbated by the shake-up at the Health ministry which saw minister Obadiah Moyo sacked, permanent secretary (Agnes Mahomva) reassigned and public hospitals chief executive officers fired, leaving the critical ministry on autopilot. BY MOSES MATENGA/HARRIET CHIKANDIWA/BRENNA MATENDERE /VENERANDA LANGA The Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) yesterday said after five weeks on job action, the government had not acted on their plight although the situation at the clinics and hospitals was now dire and people were dying from “avoidable” illnesses. “As Zina, we are concerned about the silent genocide taking place in our hospitals while government remains silent as if everything is normal,” the nurses association said in a statement. Despite the crisis in the health delivery system, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic that had killed 28 people as of yesterday, the Mnangagwa administration is yet to appoint a Health minister and permanent secretary, making it difficult to effectively push for betterment of the health workers’ conditions of service. Moyo was fired early this week for alleged abuse of office involving unprocedural awarding of tenders to companies involved in procurement of COVID-19 equipment and drugs while Mahomva is now in the President’s Office leading the fight against the pandemic. “Currently, the most vulnerable members of society across the country are being turned away from hospitals because of the absence of services there and they are now dying in their homes,” the nurses said. Scarier is the revelation that over 200 health workers, most of them student nurses, have tested positive to COVID-19, forcing some hospitals to shut down as the government continues to dither on its promise to avail adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). “We reiterate that the government is not taking its nurses seriously. Hopefully by the time it decides to act, things would not have gone irreparably bad.” The nurses are demanding salaries in US dollars and adequate protective clothing. Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights secretary Norman Matara said there were verified reports of women dying while in prolonged labour, adding that the hospitals were in a sorry state. “Hospitals are in a sorry state at the moment. Access to even emergency and critical care is now limited due to absence of critical staff. We have verified reports of women failing to access emergency obstetric care, resulting in maternal deaths, stillbirths and severe brain injury to newborns due to prolonged labour. We need the Ministry of Health and government to urgently intervene to avoid continuous unnecessary loss of human lives,” Matara said. He said by not providing basic healthcare, the government was violating the Constitution that guarantees the right to healthcare. Matara added: “Section 76 of the Zimbabwean Constitution which pr