Speaking in Parliament last week, Mombeshora said the nurses’ primary complaint related to shortages of essential medicines and supplies, particularly syringes. He said the national medicine stock levels currently stand at 49%, with plans to reach 60% by the end of the year. Said Mombeshora:

The problem that we saw of those who were demonstrating at Sally Mugabe Hospital has nothing to do with that system. It is all about their thoughts. They were complaining about the lack of stocks of medicines.

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Of course, the stock levels may be low but right now the stock levels are at 49%, we are not happy with it but this year our target is 60%. We want to increase the levels gradually but we cannot do it immediately.

Mombeshora said authorities were uncertain whether the nurses were protesting due to a shortage of syringes or if there were other underlying reasons, as syringes were available at pharmacies. He said:

What surprised me is that when I went to Sally Mugabe Hospital on Monday when they were demonstrating, most of the things they were talking about were things that they knew were being looked into.

Some of the things they complained about were syringes. We went to pharmacies and saw the syringes.

So, we now do not know whether they were demonstrating because of a lack of syringes or they were doing it for something else.

What they did was illegal because they were supposed to give us two weeks in advance before they started demonstrating.

We told them to come and talk to us in time so that things may be worked out, we want to ensure that the health of our people is safe.

Mombeshora said the Health Ministry faced challenges in procuring medicines, citing delays in budget allocations and extended lead times in manufacturing.

More: NewsDay