'Telephone health services are illegal, unprofessional and unethical'

ECONET Wireless's Dial-A-Doc is operating illegally as it is not approved by the Medical and Dental Practitioners' Council of Zimbabwe (MDPCZ), an official has said.

The MDPCZ and the Health Professions Authority of Zimbabwe (HPAZ) ruled that mobile phone health services were not supported by law.

Econet recently partnered Ponai Medical Centre to offer Dial-A-Doc, which allows patients to access advisory messages from doctors over their phones. The mobile operator charges USc70 per minute for the service.