HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday the country's public health system was far from recovering after last year's collapse, although there were signs of improvement.Tsvangirai and arch-rival President Robert Mugabe formed a unity government in February in a bid to end a political and economic crisis that had paralysed most public services, including the health sector.
A cholera outbreak killed almost 4,300 people out of some 98,000 cases between August 2008 and July this year, highlighting the collapse of a health system once regarded as one of the best on the African continent.
"Sadly it is a far cry from the shining example that it was a few years back. One might say it is itself in intensive care," Tsvangirai said in an address at a medical conference in Harare.
"I am glad that the situation has since improved but there is still a lot of work to be done. This is one of my top priorities as prime minister."
Zimbabwe's hospitals have suffered under hyperinflation, which officially reached 231 million percent last year although analysts said it was much higher, and lack drugs and equipment.
The country has also lost key skills as doctors and nurses leave for better pay in Britain and neighbouring countries.
State doctors, who earn a basic wage of $170 (102 pounds), started a job boycott last week demanding $1,000 per month, paralysing operations at the country's four major hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo.
Tsvangirai said the doctors' strike was regrettable and vowed to improve their working conditions.
"It's almost a recurrence that every year we have a doctors' strike. That must be arrested," Tsvangirai said.
"I also urge those health professionals who have embarked on industrial action to recognise the efforts that the Ministry of Health has made, even prior to the industrial action."
The new unity government, which says it needs at least $8.3 billion to fix the economy, has so far failed to attract significant aid, especially from Western donors who have demanded broader political and economic reforms.
