A nurse's monthly pay won't even cover a soft drink. There is no hope of treatment in hospitals which are themselves dying:
"Harare Central officially closed down on Friday last week, and at the Parirenyatwa Hospital, most wards have not been functioning... except for one or two," says Dr Kudzanai Chimedza.
He is president of the Junior Doctors' Association - the 200-strong Junior Doctors' Association considered the backbone of the public health delivery system.
"It's a decision undertaken by senior doctors, citing poor working conditions," he says.
Hospital authorities asked relatives to come and pick up their sick loved ones.
They could no longer cope, weighed down by lack of resources.
Rarely does a referral hospital shut services, except in a time of war.
(Thanks: AC.)