THE THIRTEEN GIRLS ARE ENTITLED TO PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY – HPCZ
Kombe Chimpinde Mataka
HEALTH Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) has called on all health
workers attending to the 13 young women who were rescued from Chalala on Monday where they were being kept hostage for months to exhibit high levels of professionalism by keeping their
information confidential.
HPCZ public relations manager Terry Musonda yesterday said the girls should be treated like any client.
“The Health Professions Council of Zambia being the regulator of the health space would like to encourage all health practitioners, health workers and indeed all professionals who are involved in the treatment and handling the case of the 13 young ladies who are in the health facilities to continue being professional.
They need to continue exercising maximum and a high level of professionalism and ethics with regards to patients’ confidentiality and privacy.
The 13 young girls deserve that and they are not an exception from the other clients who we handle in these facilities,” said Musonda.
“The 13 girls are entitled to the right to confidentiality and privacy as enshrined in the client patient charter. To the general
public, understandably so, this matter has generated a lot of interest and at the same time we want to urge the public to respect and uphold the confidentiality of our 13 young girls under the circumstance.
Yes the public has a right to air their concerns and opinions but we want to encourage them that they need to be particular and sensitive.
For example, the issue of circulating pictures and footage when they are in health facilities is a breach of patients’ confidentiality.”