The Heartbreaking Plight Of Zimbabwe's Doctors

It seems like gloves, needles, painkillers and water should be standard stock in any hospital.

But they're not in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's hopes for economic change after the November 2017 ouster of President Robert Mugabe, with the new President Emmerson Mnangagwa, have not been realized.

With an annual inflation rate of 290 percent, Zimbabwe's economy continues to decline and the tremors are felt everywhere: Long lines outside banks and fuel stations mark the urban landscape as people wait for money and gas; and health care facilities are not able to stock what they need.

Doctors have been pressing the government for change — including through strikes — demanding better salaries, needed supplies and functioning medical equipment. In public hospitals, doctors are working in arduous conditions, forcing some to operate with their , at worst,and non-sterile gloves, at best, when