MIS TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USERS

Version 2.0 – Effective Date: 15 January 2026

1. DEFINITIONS

“User” or “You”: Any person who submits queries to the Medical Information Service (MIS) via WhatsApp or other MIS platforms.

“MIS” or “We” or “Us”: The Medical Information Service, a Zimbabwean health information platform.

“Provider”: Licensed healthcare professionals and businesses (pharmacies, physiotherapy practices, imaging centres, laboratories, etc.) participating in the MIS platform.

“MIS Platform”: Any digital platform, forum, or service created, administered, or operated by the MIS, including WhatsApp-based services.

“Query”: Any request for information about medicine availability, pricing, healthcare services, or related information submitted through MIS.

“Personal Information”: Information that can identify you, including your name, phone number, address, national ID number, medical aid number, or any other identifying details.

2. ABOUT MIS

2.1 What MIS Does

MIS is a WhatsApp-based platform that helps Zimbabwean residents locate medicines and healthcare services by:

• Receiving product and service availability queries from users
  • Distributing your queries (sometimes including images) to participating licensed providers
  • Collecting availability and pricing responses from providers
  • Consolidating responses and providing information to you

2.2 What MIS Does NOT Do

MIS does NOT:

• Recommend or endorse any specific provider
  • Act as your agent or representative
  • Prescribe medicines or provide medical advice
  • Guarantee medicine or service availability or pricing accuracy
  • Sell medicines or healthcare services directly
  • Verify the quality of services provided by healthcare providers
  • Process payments or handle transactions between you and providers

3. PROVIDER REGISTRATION

3.1 Provider Licensing

MIS only engages healthcare providers that hold valid licences issued by:

• The Health Professions Authority of Zimbabwe (HPAZ)
  • The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ)
  • Other relevant regulatory authorities

Licensed providers are presumed to be in good standing with regulatory authorities.

3.2 MIS Does Not Guarantee Provider Performance

While MIS verifies provider licensing, MIS does NOT:

• Guarantee the quality of services you receive from providers
  • Supervise provider conduct during consultations or transactions
  • Control provider pricing, business practices, or customer service
  • Verify provider stock levels in real-time

You are responsible for:

• Choosing which provider to visit based on the information provided
  • Verifying provider credentials if you have concerns
  • Reporting any issues with providers to relevant regulatory authorities

4. HOW MIS WORKS

4.1 Query Distribution

When you submit a query to MIS:

1. You send your query (text or image) via WhatsApp
2. MIS distributes your query to participating licensed providers in your area or searches its own database of providers
3. Providers review your query and respond with availability and/or pricing information
4. MIS consolidates responses and sends them to you
5. You choose which provider (if any) to engage

4.2 Image Sharing with Multiple Providers

IMPORTANT: When you send images to MIS, these images are distributed to MULTIPLE licensed healthcare providers.

This means:

• Potentially dozens of healthcare professionals may view your prescription image
  • Images are sent to pharmacies, imaging centres, laboratories, and other relevant providers
  • Provider staff members authorized to process queries will see your images

By using MIS, you consent to this distribution of your images to licensed healthcare providers.

4.3 Your Responsibility: Remove Personal Information

CRITICAL – READ CAREFULLY:

Before sending any prescription or document images to MIS, YOU MUST:

✓ CROP OUT or BLUR your name
✓ CROP OUT or BLUR your address
✓ CROP OUT or BLUR your phone number
✓ CROP OUT or BLUR your national ID number
✓ CROP OUT or BLUR your medical aid number
✓ CROP OUT or BLUR any other personal identifying information

KEEP VISIBLE ONLY:

• Medicine names and dosages
  • Doctor’s prescription instructions
  • Prescriber name (doctor/clinic name)

WHY THIS MATTERS:

• Your images are distributed to multiple providers and their staff
  • MIS cannot control who sees uncropped personal information
  • Removing personal information protects your privacy

Alternative: Instead of sending images, you can type the medicine or service names in your message to MIS. This is the most private option.

5. MIS’S LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

5.1 No Liability for Provider Services

MIS is NOT liable for:

• Quality of medicines or services you receive from providers
  • Incorrect, incomplete, or outdated information provided by providers
  • Pricing discrepancies or disputes with providers
  • Out-of-stock medicines despite provider confirmation of availability
  • Adverse reactions, side effects, or medical complications
  • Provider misconduct, negligence, or unprofessional behaviour
  • Delays in provider responses or service delivery
  • Provider business closures or operating hours changes

Important: Your relationship is with the healthcare provider you choose to visit, not with MIS. Any disputes about service quality, pricing, or medical outcomes must be resolved directly with the provider or reported to regulatory authorities (HPAZ, MCAZ).

5.2 No Liability for Data Breaches Caused by You

MIS is NOT responsible for data breaches resulting from:

• Personal information you chose NOT to remove from images before sending
  • Information you voluntarily disclosed in your queries
  • Unauthorized access to your own device or WhatsApp account
  • Sharing your MIS conversations with third parties

By using MIS, you acknowledge that:

• You were instructed to remove personal information before sending images
  • You chose whether or not to follow this instruction
  • MIS cannot protect information you chose to include in your images

MIS IS responsible for:

• Securely handling the information you send after you send it
  • Only sharing your queries with licensed healthcare providers
  • Implementing reasonable security measures on our systems
  • Notifying you if MIS experiences a data breach affecting your information

5.3 Platform and Technical Issues

MIS is NOT liable for:

• WhatsApp platform outages or technical failures
  • Internet connectivity issues preventing message delivery
  • Delayed responses due to provider availability
  • Message delivery failures outside MIS’s control
  • Loss of message history due to device changes or WhatsApp issues

5.4 Medical Advice Disclaimer

MIS does NOT provide medical advice.

• MIS only connects you with licensed healthcare providers
  • MIS does not diagnose conditions or recommend treatments
  • MIS does not evaluate appropriateness of queries
  • Always consult a licensed healthcare professional for medical advice
  • In medical emergencies, call emergency services immediately (dial 112 from Econet lines)

6. YOUR DATA AND PRIVACY

6.1 What Information MIS Collects

When you use MIS, we collect:

• Your phone number (from WhatsApp)
  • Your queries (text messages about medicines/services you need)
  • Prescription images (if you send them)
  • Your location (suburb/area level, to match you with nearby providers)
  • Query timestamps (when you contacted MIS)
  • Conversation history (your interactions with MIS)

MIS does NOT collect:

• National ID numbers (unless you include them in images against our instructions)
  • Medical aid card details (unless you include them in images)
  • Full medical history or records
  • Payment card information (MIS doesn’t process payments)
  • GPS coordinates or precise location tracking

6.2 How MIS Uses Your Information

Your phone number:

• Stored for 30 days to assist with dispute resolution
  • Used to send you provider responses
  • May be used to contact you about service issues or feedback
  • Deleted after 30 days unless you have an ongoing dispute

Your images:

• Distributed to licensed providers to respond to your query. We have no control over how they handle those images. This is why we implore you to remove any personal information from your images before sending them to MIS.
  • Personal information should be removed by you before sending
  • Anonymized versions (with all identifying information removed) retained for 5 years for analytics and research. This is also how long pharmacies are required to keep dispensing records by law.
  • Used to improve MIS services and understand medicine availability patterns
  • May be used for aggregate public health research (no individual identification will be risked)

Your query history:

• Used to improve MIS platform and its products and services
  • Analyzed in aggregate to understand healthcare access patterns
  • May inform policy advocacy for better medicine or service availability

6.3 Image Anonymization Process

After 30 days, MIS anonymizes your prescription images by:

• Hashing any remaining identifiable information
  • Retaining only: medicine names, dosages, general location (city level), timestamp.

Anonymized images may be used for:

• Understanding medicine demand patterns across Zimbabwe
  • Public health research and policy advocacy
  • Platform improvement and quality assurance
  • Research (published in aggregate form only)

Anonymized data cannot be traced back to you.

6.4 Who Can Access Your Information

Your information is accessible to:

• Licensed providers (who receive your queries to respond)
  • Authorized MIS staff (for platform operation and customer support)
  • No one else (we do not sell or share your data with third parties)

Exceptions – We may share information if:

• Required by law (court order, regulatory investigation)
  • Necessary for child protection or crime prevention (as required by law)
  • You give explicit consent for specific purposes

6.5 Data Security

MIS protects your information by:

• Encrypting all messages in transit (WhatsApp end-to-end encryption)
  • Storing data on secure, encrypted servers
  • Limiting staff access to only those who need it
  • Monitoring for unauthorized access
  • Regular security audits and updates

If MIS experiences a data breach that affects you, we will:

• Notify you within 72 hours
  • Explain what information was affected
  • Describe steps we’re taking to prevent recurrence
  • Report to regulatory authorities as required

7. PROHIBITED USES

7.1 You May NOT Use MIS To:

❌ Attempt to obtain controlled substances without a valid prescription
❌ Request information about illicit or illegal substances
❌ Harass, threaten, or abuse MIS staff or healthcare providers
❌ Impersonate another person or provide false information
❌ Attempt to hack, disrupt, or damage MIS systems
❌ Use MIS for commercial purposes (reselling medicines, market research without authorization)
❌ Spam providers with excessive or irrelevant queries
❌ Share MIS provider contact information publicly without permission
❌ Attempt to circumvent MIS to contact providers directly for purposes other than legitimate healthcare needs

7.2 Consequences of Prohibited Use

If MIS suspects prohibited or malicious use, we may:

• Block or suspend your access immediately
  • Report to law enforcement if illegal activity suspected
  • Share your information with regulatory authorities
  • Terminate your use of MIS permanently

You will be notified if your access is suspended, unless notification would compromise an investigation.

8. ACCURACY OF INFORMATION

8.1 Provider Information May Change

MIS provides information based on provider responses at the time of your query.

We do NOT guarantee: • Real-time accuracy of stock levels (medicines may sell out)
• Current pricing (prices may change without notice)
• Provider operating hours (may change due to holidays, emergencies)
• Provider service offerings (may add/remove services)

Always confirm with the provider before traveling to their location.

8.2 Unregistered Medicines

MIS may forward queries about medicines not registered in Zimbabwe.

This is legal because:

• Zimbabwean law allows pharmacies to source unregistered medicines under specific circumstances
  • MIS collects this data to understand healthcare access gaps
  • Licensed providers are responsible for complying with regulations when sourcing such medicines

If a provider cannot assist with a particular medicine, they will indicate their inability to help.

8.3 No Medical Advice

Information provided by MIS is for locating medicines and services only, NOT medical advice.

• MIS does not diagnose conditions
  • MIS does not recommend treatments
  • MIS does not evaluate appropriateness of prescriptions
  • Always consult a licensed healthcare professional for medical guidance

9. FEES AND CHARGES

9.1 MIS Service Is Free for Users

Using MIS is currently free. You only pay:

• Your own mobile data/WhatsApp costs
  • The provider’s fees for medicines/services you purchase

9.2 Future Fees

MIS reserves the right to introduce fees in the future. If we do:
• Fees will be clearly stated before you incur them
• You can stop using MIS if you don’t agree to fees

10. FEEDBACK AND COMPLAINTS

10.1 Feedback About MIS Service

We welcome your feedback to improve MIS:

• Email: info@medicalinformation.co.zw
  • WhatsApp: +263 78 868 0608

10.2 Complaints About Providers

For service quality issues, pricing disputes, or provider conduct:

Step 1: Resolve directly with the provider first

Step 2: If unresolved, report to regulatory authorities:

• Health Professions Authority of Zimbabwe (HPAZ): [contact details]
  • Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ): [contact details]

Step 3: Inform MIS so we can monitor provider performance:

• Email: info@medicalinformation.co.zw
  • WhatsApp: +263 78 868 0608

MIS will:

• Document your complaint
  • Investigate if patterns emerge
  • May suspend providers with repeated serious complaints
  • Cannot mediate individual disputes or provide refunds for payments made to entities that are not the MIS.

10.3 Data Protection Concerns

For privacy or data protection issues, contact our Data Protection Officer:

• Email: info@medicalinformation.co.zw
  • Phone: +263 78 868 0608
  • Subject line: “Data Protection Inquiry”

11. AMENDMENTS TO THESE TERMS

11.1 How We Update Terms

MIS may update these Terms and Conditions to:

• Reflect changes in our services
  • Comply with new laws or regulations
  • Improve clarity or user protection

11.2 Notice of Changes

When we update these Terms:
• Updated Terms will be posted at: [website URL]

11.3 Continued Use Means Acceptance

By continuing to use MIS after the effective date, you accept the updated Terms.

If you don’t agree with changes:

• Stop using MIS immediately.

12. TERMINATION

12.1 You Can Stop Using MIS Anytime

You may stop using MIS at any time by:

• Simply stopping sending queries

12.2 MIS Can Suspend Your Access

MIS may suspend or terminate your access if:

• You violate these Terms and Conditions
  • You use MIS for prohibited purposes
  • You abuse or harass providers or MIS staff
  • We suspect fraudulent or malicious activity

12.3 Effect of Termination

After termination:

• Your number will lose access to MIS platform
  • Your data will be handled according to Section 6
  • You remain responsible for any outstanding disputes with providers
  • These Terms continue to apply to past use of MIS

13. GENERAL LEGAL PROVISIONS

13.1 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Zimbabwe. Any disputes shall be resolved in the courts of Harare, Zimbabwe.

13.2 Entire Agreement

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and MIS regarding use of the MIS platform.

13.3 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full effect.

13.4 No Waiver

MIS’s failure to enforce any provision does not constitute a waiver of that provision.

13.5 Assignment

You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms. MIS may assign these Terms to a successor entity.

13.6 Independent Contractors

Your use of MIS does not create any employment, agency, partnership, or joint venture relationship with MIS.

13.7 Force Majeure

MIS is not liable for delays or failures in service due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control (natural disasters, internet outages, pandemics, government actions, etc.).

14. CONTACT INFORMATION

For questions about these Terms:

The Medical Information Service (MIS)
Email: info@medicalinformation.co.zw
WhatsApp/Phone: +263 78 868 0608

Data Protection Officer:
Email: info@medicalinformation.co.zw
Phone: +263 78 868 0608

15. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

By using MIS (sending a query via WhatsApp), you confirm that:

☑ You have read and understood these Terms and Conditions
☑ You understand that your queries and images are shared with multiple licensed healthcare providers
☑ You understand that you must remove personal information from images before sending
☑ You accept that MIS is not liable for the quality of services provided by healthcare providers
☑ You accept that MIS is not responsible for privacy breaches caused by personal information you chose not to remove
☑ You agree to use MIS only for legitimate healthcare needs
☑ You consent to MIS collecting and using your data as described in Section 6

If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use MIS.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

BEFORE SENDING PRESCRIPTION IMAGES:

✓ CROP OUT your name, address, phone number, ID number
✓ KEEP ONLY medicine names and dosages visible
✓ Remember: Many providers and their staff will see your image

UNDERSTAND THAT:

✓ MIS connects you with providers but doesn’t control their service quality
✓ You choose which provider to visit – MIS doesn’t recommend any specific provider
✓ Your relationship is with the provider you visit, not with MIS
✓ Provider information (pricing, stock) may change – always confirm before traveling

YOUR DATA:

✓ Phone numbers stored for 30 days
✓ Anonymized prescription images stored for 5 years.

Thank you for using MIS to improve healthcare access in Zimbabwe!

Last Updated: 15 January 2026