"We have continued to advertise vacant posts for medical doctors especially in Southern Africa and other countries. At present there is a critical shortage of skilled personnel and that is affecting our operations severely," said an MSF official in Johannesburg.

MSF has since 2007 been offering basic primary health care and emergency medical treatment to victims of violence and epidemic outbreaks, and specific services for survivors of sexual violence. MSF set up cholera treatment centers (CTC) in densely populated suburbs around Harare responding to major cholera epidemic in 2008.

At the height of the cholera outbreak, MSF medical teams are said to have since been treating between 4000 and 5000 patients each month around the Beit-Bridge area and at a polyclinic in inner-city Johannesburg at the Central Methodist Church, which has been a sanctuary for thousands of Zimbabwean refugees who fled into South Africa

Dr Henry Madzorera, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare this month conceded that his ministry was struggling to entice medical professionals who migrated to neighbouring countries back in the country six months after the formation of the unity government.

Health professionals have been earning a US$100 emergency stipend a month that government paid to civil servants across the board since February, and they are getting additional allowances from humanitarian donors. Madzorera said although a considerable number of nurses and others had returned already, the situation remained acute with over 50% of the posts for highly skilled health practitioners remaining vacant.

MSF hopes to deploy doctors countrywide in urban and rural areas, including areas such as Beit-Bridge as well Tsholotsho. It has also intensified its humanitarian efforts in South Africa to deal with the Zimbabwean refugee tragedy there.

At the launch of its new report last month, "No Refuge, Access Denied: Medical and Humanitarian Needs of Zimbabweans in South Africa," the medical aid agency bemoaned the harassment and appalling living conditions and a serious lack of access to essential healthcare Zimbabwean refugees were being subjected to by South Africa authorities. It warned the South African government and United Nations (UN) agencies "to urgently address the specific humanitarian needs of vulnerable Zimbabweans falling through the cracks of South African society."

"Every day, despite claims that Zimbabwe is 'normalising' thousands of Zimbabweans continue to cross the border into South Africa, fleeing economic meltdown, food insecurity, political turmoil, and the total collapse of their health system," said Rachel Cohen, Head of Mission for MSF in South Africa