A STRIKE by government doctors and nurses crippled state hospital services in the country’s main cities on Wednesday, AP reported. Quoting the Hospital Doctors Association, the agency said about 350 doctors stopped work on Tuesday in the cities of Harare, the capital, and Bulawayo, the second city, demanding better salaries and allowances. Some senior doctors and military officials were handling emergency cases, and staff at provincial and rural health facilities still had to decide whether to join the action, Dr Sibert Mandega, head of the doctors’ association, said. “This action is greatly regretted,” but was necessary, he said. The Zimbabwe Nurses Association said about 80% of its 9_000 members stopped work on Wednesday to protest their salaries. – IRIN