Patients are becoming increasingly interested in participating in clinical decisions and taking responsibility for their own health hence the importance for health information to be made available to individuals cannot be emphasized enough .
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, access to the correct statistics and any information related to the virus and any other disease has many potential benefits which will help people make informed decisions about their own health, including the availability of alternatives to medical care.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has committed to achieving universal health coverage by the year 2030 but developing countries like Zimbabwe still lag behind due to a lack of access to information which remains a major barrier to high quality knowledge-based care.
Mr Arthur Buranda, the acting Vice President of the nurses board at Mpilo General Hospital said making information accessible to the members of the public makes health services more accountable and promotes healthy behaviour and self-care among citizens.
“Increased knowledge may lead to more appropriate usage of health services, which in turn improves health status and reduces costs”, he said.
“Health information of variable quality, comes from a variety of sources including health professionals, media, family, social networks, religious leaders, educators, and increasingly the internet. Let’s by all means use these channels but we call on the government to make health information accessible to every individual who might seek it in order for everyone to be a health watchdog”.
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