By SIMON MUNTEMBA
THE Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) has warned people who are operating as health practitioners without a licence to stop or risk being sent to jail upon conviction.
HPCZ senior public relations officer, Terry Musonda said they will continue to ensure that the public was protected from unsafe practices in the health profession and those found contravening the Health Professions Act brought to book.
Mr Musonda who welcomed the recent conviction and sentencing of Reuben Mumba, a Grade 11 school dropout of Mpulungu who was masquerading as a health practitioner and operating a health facility without a licence.
He said it was their hope that the conviction and sentencing of Mumba would serve as a deterrent to would be offenders.
Mr Musonda explained that in October 2021, HPCZ working with the Zambia Police, Drug Enforcement Commission and the District Health Office discovered Mumba in his grocery store attempting to inject a drug namely gentamycin into a patient who presented complaints of a sexually transmitted infection.
He said Mumba was not a registered health practitioner neither was his grocery store a licensed health facility and therefore acted contrary to the Health Professions Act.
“He pleaded guilty to both charges and the court sentenced him to a fine, in default of which he would serve nine months imprisonment,” he said.
Mr Musonda said HPCZ would continue to monitor operations of all health facilities and conduct of health practitioners for the promotion of compliance to National Healthcare Standards.
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