Ministry of Health and Child Care has expressed concern over the new constitution’s lack of clarity on operational modalities to do with free medical services.
Addressing a two day stakeholder consultative workshop on the alignment of the medical service Act chapter 15:13 to the new constitution in Harare on Wednesday, Director of the Pathology Services, Dr Maxwell Hove said the law should be clear on whose shoulders the cost of free medical services will be on.
“As the Ministry we want the law to address and be able to answer what is basic health care, what basic and productive health care and what is medical emergency and how it can be handled within our system.
“They should also be able to answer how is that basic health care going to be funded because we hear there is free service care because everything used to treat patients has to be paid for. So the law should answer who is going to pay if we say it is free?” queried Dr Hove.
Meanwhile, Ms Moyo from the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce Technical Committee in the Department of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, said her ministry is committed to expediting the alignment of all laws to the Constitution.
“The ministry is devoted to hurry up the alignment of laws to the constitution. In that spirit, it also stands ready to play its part in all efforts that will see all laws aligned with the Constitution.
“The Ministry’s interest in the alignment of these laws is inherent because in essence the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs’ mission is to uphold, develop and provide accessible, efficient and effective justice delivery,” she said.
Moyo added that the Ministry of Justice, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs will expedite the alignment of laws to ensure systems of government are efficient, effective, transparent and accountable.
Three Acts of Parliament namely Medical Services Act, Public Health Act and Health Services Act are expected to be aligned with the new constitution adopted in 2013.
