News / Health
Zimbabwe to 'export' jobless nurses
06 Feb 2012 at 05:09hrs | Views
GOVERNMENT is working on modalities to "export" unemployed nurses to work in other countries, mostly in the Sadc region.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Douglas Mombeshora, said arrangements were at an advanced stage before nurses were exported into the region and beyond, the standard reported.
He said the idea of exporting nurses was mooted after the Finance ministry forced the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to stop employing nurses due to lack of funds.
He however said the sector still needed more health personnel. "At the moment, we have to let go a lot of nurses whom we trained who are not employed. It's not that vacancies in our sector are filled, but it is because the Ministry of Finance is saying it has no money to employ them," said Mombeshora.
He said government would approach countries that needed nurses and enter into "a country- to-country contracts."
Government will then negotiate for the nurses' conditions of service and salaries to avoid a situation where they could be taken advantage of by unscrupulous foreign employers.
Mombeshora said the pact that no Sadc country should employ health personnel from a member country without prior agreement was not working.
He said several Sadc countries had employed Zimbabwean nurses in direct contravention of the agreement.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Douglas Mombeshora, said arrangements were at an advanced stage before nurses were exported into the region and beyond, the standard reported.
He said the idea of exporting nurses was mooted after the Finance ministry forced the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to stop employing nurses due to lack of funds.
He however said the sector still needed more health personnel. "At the moment, we have to let go a lot of nurses whom we trained who are not employed. It's not that vacancies in our sector are filled, but it is because the Ministry of Finance is saying it has no money to employ them," said Mombeshora.
He said government would approach countries that needed nurses and enter into "a country- to-country contracts."
Government will then negotiate for the nurses' conditions of service and salaries to avoid a situation where they could be taken advantage of by unscrupulous foreign employers.
Mombeshora said the pact that no Sadc country should employ health personnel from a member country without prior agreement was not working.
He said several Sadc countries had employed Zimbabwean nurses in direct contravention of the agreement.
Source - standard
