Seal of COnVIDence – a joint initiative put in place between Harare’s Healthpoint Hospital and Ace Emergency Ambulances, which is intended to rebuild tourist confidence in healthcare in Zimbabwe – is encouraging tour operators, accommodation suppliers and other tourism businesses to sign up for the new initiative.

Owner of Healthpoint Hospital, Peter Annesley, told Tourism Update that any tourism business that signed up to the Seal of COnVIDence would be able to offer its clients emergency transportation and admittance to two of Harare’s top hospitals. 

This means that, should a tourist travelling through Zimbabwe – who had booked with an approved ‘Seal of COnVIDence’ tourism business – contract COVID-19 during their trip, they need not fear being hospitalised in a rural government hospital.

Instead, the client would be assured of emergency transportation by Ace Emergency Ambulances to Healthpoint’s private COVID-19 hospital in Harare for treatment. This would all take place at no cost to the customer.

The initiative also provides the same service to tourists who may, for example, fall or break their ankle.

Annesley said the onset of COVID-19 had heightened health fears of travellers around the world and that many high-profile news stories of patients hospitalised in poor healthcare facilities had resulted in travellers being more nervous than ever of travelling to Africa, where the quality of healthcare facilities could vary so drastically from region to region.

“Hotels and tourism suppliers have been communicating prolifically about the measures that they have put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their establishments and during their experiences, but few properties are addressing the actual concerns of customers.”

Annesley said the Seal of COnVIDence product spoke directly to clients’ questions about what would happen to them should they contract COVID-19 and find themselves unable to breathe while they were staying in a remote lodge in Africa.

“We provide tourism suppliers that sign up with Seal of COnVIDence an emblem that they can upload on to their website to address their clients’ concerns. This, in turn, provides clients with peace of mind that, in the event of a medical emergency, they will receive the best hospital treatment that Zimbabwe has to offer,” he said.

Annesley added that, in the event of a medical emergency, the one- to four-hour window when a client needs to be admitted to hospital is often of critical importance. While many tourists will be travelling with travel insurance or private medical aid cover, the admin involved in obtaining pre-approvals for hospital admittance from an international insurer can take between one and four hours.

“The Seal of COnVIDence guarantees clients that they can be picked up by an ambulance, transported and admitted to hospital without the need to wait for hospitalisation authorisations,” he explained.

Zimbabwe Vaxcation – no first-dose vaccinations in stock

Healthpoint Hospital in Harare was selected as the first healthcare facility in Zimbabwe with authority to administer COVID-19 vaccinations privately.

Last month Tourism Update’s sister publication Travel News ran an article detailing that the hospital was offering stock-dependent vaccinations to foreigners for just US$100 for both doses of a two-dose vaccination.

When Tourism Update followed up on the progress of this initiative, Annesley advised that Healthpoint currently only had second-dose vaccines in stock but that the facility was expecting an imminent delivery of Sinopharm vaccines.

Tourists who are interested in being vaccinated in Zimbabwe are encouraged to contact Healthpoint Hospital for updates on stock availability before booking their travel arrangements.