An Ethical Justification of Health Workers' Strikes in Zimbabwe during COVID-19 : A Perspective Based on African...

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health resource scarcity in many countries. Due to the shortage of medical equipment, some health workers in Zimbabwe refused to provide health services until these needs were addressed. In this article, we analyse the case of withdrawal of services by health workers in Zimbabwe and contend that they were morally justified in doing this. To forward this thesis, we try for the first time to use the African values of partiality and social harmony to evaluate the morality of health workers striking during a pandemic. The first set of arguments, based on the African ethics of partiality, is divided into two sub-arguments: namely, that the health workers were justified in withdrawing medical services because they held special duties to their families which could be violated if they had provided health services without the use of protection, and that it is psychologically unrealistic to demand that health workers put their families at risk. The second set of arguments upholds that the actions of the health workers are grounded in the idea of Ubuntu/social harmony and, therefore, are morally justified. Finally, we contend that although our thesis implies some hierarchies, not only may these be morally justified, but they are also not necessarily incompatible with the ethical standards of equality, universality, and non-favouritism. Although the case of Zimbabwe serves as an illuminating example, the way we formulate this thesis indicates that the arguments can be generalized to similar settings.