Private hospitals and health institutions will no longer be allowed to refuse treatment to patients suffering life-threatening emergencies simply because they cannot afford medical fees, following the enactment of the Medical Services Amendment Act, 2026.
The new law compels all private health institutions to admit and provide emergency medical treatment to critically ill or injured patients for up to 48 hours to stabilise their condition before they can be transferred to another facility.
The Act also empowers the Minister of Health and Child Care to direct private health institutions to provide specialist emergency services to public-sector patients during national emergencies or public health crises. While the legislation allows private facilities to recover costs through agreements with the Government or directly from patients, it makes clear that financial considerations cannot be used as a reason to deny urgent medical care.
To enforce compliance, the Act introduces criminal penalties for heads of private health institutions or health practitioners acting without authority who refuse to admit emergency patients. Offenders face a fine of up to Level 8, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
The legislation marks a major shift in Zimbabwe’s healthcare framework by strengthening the constitutional right to emergency medical treatment and ensuring that private healthcare providers share responsibility in responding to life-threatening medical emergencies.
The amendment is expected to improve access to emergency healthcare, particularly for vulnerable patients who have previously been turned away by private facilities because they were unable to pay upfront medical fees.
