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Herald Correspondent
Bogus health professionals are offering healthcare services without being vetted and registered, the Health Professions Authority has warned.
This comes at a time when Covid-19 self-test kits are being sold in pharmacies despite Zimbabwe’s insistence that all testing is done by qualified professionals.
The Health Professions Authority (HPA) is the health regulator, seeking to ensure minimum healthcare standards in Zimbabwe by ensuring all professionals are properly qualified and registered and that all clinics, hospitals and other health institutions meet the required standards and are registered.
HPA public relations manager Ms Tariro Manamike has urged people to report suspected bogus health workers to the authority for verification.
“The public is hereby warned about people who are claiming to be or posing as health professionals and who, in many cases, are providing health care services without being licensed,” Ms Manamike said.
“All health institutions are to be registered with the authority in terms of the Health Professions Act.
All employers of health practitioners, whether private or public, are required to ensure that they are employing practitioners who are duly registered with their respective councils and are holders of valid practising certificates.
HPA recently discovered that some pharmacies in greater Harare were selling Covid-19 test kits that were not approved by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC).
This was during a multi stakeholder inspection by the MoHCC, HPA and Medical Laboratories and Clinical Scientists Council of pharmacies across the city.
Self-test kits are banned in Zimbabwe, with Covid-19 tests in being done by certified health personnel, who can be in private practice, and authorised health institutions only.
Meanwhile, HPA has said they registered more health institutions last year compared to the year 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Online Reporter