Harare - Doctors at Zimbabwe's state hospitals on Wednesday called off a crippling two-week strike, broken by the reality that the government had no money to meet their wage demands, their union said.
The strike was called off after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai reassured doctors that the government was listening to them, and urged them to return to work after five children caught swine flu and new cholera cases broke out.
"We have called off the strike and we are now going back to work," Brighton Chizhande, president of the Hospital Doctors Association told reporters.
"We have called off the strike after realising that the government does not have money to finance our demands," he said.
"The calling off the strike is also as a result of appeals by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who last week said our concerns are being addressed," he added.
"The government is broke, they have no money, but we are asking them that they give doctors housing and car allowances which will be payable over a 10-year period."
Chizhande said doctors who had been dismissed during the strike had been told to re-apply for their jobs.
Doctors went on strike two weeks ago after the government stopped paying a monthly $100 allowance.
Doctors earn $170 a month, which had been paid on top of the allowance, but went on strike to demand salaries of up to $3 000.
Meanwhile, a fresh cholera outbreak was reported in the eastern district of Chipinge, barely a week after the United Nations Children's Fund warned of a new outbreak.
Health Minister Henry Madzorera told the state-run Herald the situation was under control, although 4 200 people died from the deadly but treatable disease over the last year.
"There were reported cases of cholera at Chibuwe clinic and all patients were successfully treated and discharged," Madzorera told the paper.
The new government has appealed for more than eight billion dollars to revive the country's economy but to date it has raised just over two billion dollars, mostly from African organisations and China.
Zimbabwe's health delivery system is reeling from the flight of skilled staff seeking better pay abroad, while essential equipment is often not working and drug stocks are low. - AFP