ZLHR, CHRA Intervenes on Ill-Treatment of Pregnant Women

ZLHR, CHRA Intervenes on Ill-Treatment of Pregnant Women

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ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) have asked City of Harare (CoH) to make it mandatory for all of its health personnel to wear name badges to strengthen the complaint-handling system in council-run clinics and help curb incidences of ill-treatment of pregnant women and cases of corruption.

ZLHR intervened through writing and dispatching a letter to the Director of Health Department at CoH after it was approached by CHRA, which protested that it had received and recorded several complaints
from pregnant women, who had been ill-treated at council-run clinics located across the capital city.

The residents association said making it mandatory for CoH health personnel to
wear name badges would assist in the identification of health professionals who are engaged in the mistreatment of patients and in corruption.

In the letter written to CoH, ZLHR lawyer Agnes Muzondo stated that the mandatory display of staff name badges would help strengthen the complaint-handling system in council-run clinics.

In addition, the human rights lawyer said the mandatory display of staff name badges will assist in the identification of health professionals, who are engaged in corruption and the mistreatment of patients.

The name badges, Muzondo said, will also allow patients to commend staff members whose service delivery is exceptional and this will serve to motivate the staff members to maintain high professional standards.

The human rights lawyer expressed concern that CoH had ignored CHRA’s initial request for mandatory wearing of identification badges, which it made in September 2022.

She reminded the local authority that the residents of Harare, who are represented by CHRA have a right to a functional and robust healthcare system and that an effective complaints-handling structure is a crucial component of such a system.

Muzondo gave CoH up to Friday 20 October 2023 to respond to CHRA’s request failure of which the residents’ representative body would institute legal action against the local authority to compel it to make it mandatory for its health personnel to wear name badges and help strengthen the complaint-handling system in council-run clinics.

ENDS

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Kodzero/Amalungelo House
No. 103 Sam Nujoma Street, Harare, Zimbabwe
Phone: (+263 8677005347, +263 242 764085/705370/708118
Email: info@zlhr.org.zw
www.zlhr.org.zw
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