Hospitals violating government policy

Expectant members, children below five and people aged above 65 should be treated free of charge, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.

Speaking in Bulawayo yesterday after inaugurating hospital boards to run Mpilo, Ingutsheni and United Bulawayo Hospitals, the minister of Health and Child Care David Parirenyatwa said institutions that demand payment from people in those classes were going against government policy.

Most hospitals in the country owing to low budget allocation from central government and a prevailing harsh economic climate that has seen the health services decline, have started charging people previously exempted from paying.