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Dr Parirenyatwa

Auxilia Katongomara/Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Reporters
CABINET is tomorrow expected to discuss the Public Health Bill which is earmarked to replace an existing law which was promulgated 93 years ago.

The new bill is expected to bring sweeping changes in the country’s health sector.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa said he would be presenting the Bill to Cabinet for approval tomorrow.

“First of all the Public Health Bill is an important Bill. The last Act of the Public Health Act was written in 1924, so we have been working flat out to make sure that it is now up to date in terms of the relevance to the situations that are here now,” said Dr Parirenyatwa.

“Particularly, if you look at the new conditions, the new diseases, the new types of management that is needed, the decentralisation process that we have done in our institutions, the management process are key also.”

Dr Parirenyatwa said the Public Health Bill had a lot of legalities involved because it will supersede a lot of other Acts. “For example, if I invoke the Public Health Act and say Beitbridge town, we want you to clean up the city. I can invoke the Public Health Act, but what it means is that Beitbridge Town Council should now clean up its city by force, if you see what I mean, because I have invoked that particular Act. That sort of invocation impinges on other areas of governance. So, it has to be thorough. That is why it took long,” said Dr Parirenyatwa.

“I am glad that on 14th June, 2017 it came back from the Attorney-General’s Office. It is going to Cabinet, on Tuesday and thereafter it comes to Parliament”.

Dr Parirenyatwa said it took him long to table the Bill in Parliament as it had to go through wide consultations.

“It took long because it really had to have very wide consultations. After that it then went to the Attorney General’s Office where it took some time for the legal people to make sure that the Public Health Bill, when it becomes an Act does not impinge on other laws and then becomes a tussle. It is a big document, so they had to be very thorough, very detailed and it took longer than most Bills take.

Meanwhile, Cabinet is also set to deliberate on the Cyber Crime and Cyber Security Bill in the next two weeks.

In a telephone interview, following a cyber attack on one local tertiary institution and a suspected hit on another on Wednesday last week, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Cde Supa Mandiwanzira said Cabinet was set to deliberate on the matter, which had to be urgently dealt with. The Bill seeks to plug online security risks.

The Harare Institute of Technology’s website was attacked, with the hackers demanding a ransom of more than $ 6 billion to restore it. There were fears the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) suffered a similar attack but officials at the institution dismissed the report.

Cde Mandiwanzira said: “We have finished all the consultations and we have hired experts to do the draft, which is available online. It is now with the Attorney General to finalise it. I was talking to the Attorney General’s Office and in the next two weeks it will be going to the Cabinet.”

“The draft addresses the abuse of the internet, by anyone. We have put it up so that the public can access it. This issue of cyber crime needs to be taken with a sense of urgency as it is in some cases getting out of hand. I am aware that an institution was attacked and a ransom was demanded. Such acts will be addressed in the Bill.”

@AuxiliaK