Botswana strike takes toll on health care

GABORONE — Officials say a nationwide civil service strike is taking a toll on medical care in Botswana.

Komissa Burzlaff, spokesman for the Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower, said Friday that hospitals and pharmacies are seeing delays in getting drugs, and a slowdown in garbage collection at hospitals is posing a health hazard.

Union leaders say hospitals across the country have been affected by the strike, with some doctors refusing to work despite an agreement that essential workers stay on the job. The strike started a month ago.

Civil servants, whose last raise was in 2008, are demanding a 16 percent increase. The government, with income from crucial diamond exports slowed by the global recession, is offering 5 percent.