Mozambique: Healthcare workers suspend strike, give government until Thursday
NGO calls for an end to ban on people wearing short clothes in Mozambican health units
5:17 CAT | 04 Aug 2020
File photo: Plataforma Media
The Citizen Observatory for Health (OCS), a Mozambican civil society organisation, has submitted a petition to the Ministry of Health to request the scrapping of a rule that prohibits people wearing short clothes entering health facilities.
The petition was submitted to the Ministry of Health on the 30th and requests the immediate removal of “restrictions on access to health services based on clothing or appearance”, an OCS press release reads.
According to the NGO, Mozambican civil society has been receiving complaints from citizens who claim that they are being barred from accessing health services because of the rule, which also applies to anyone entering the Ministry of Health building in Maputo.
“The groups most affected are women and girls, young people, teenagers, sexual minorities and citizens who present themselves with ‘dreadlocks’ and suffer stigma by health services, due to their presentation,” the NGO says . The ban aggravates the problem of access to health in a country where people often “travel an average of 25 to 60 kilometres” to access a health unit.
“Health is a fundamental right according to Article 89 of the Constitution, which says that everyone has the right to medical and health care, under the terms of the law, as well as the duty to promote and defend public health,” the NGO says.
Source: Lusa
Show comments
Also read
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.