The Department of Health and Social Development today briefed the Portfolio Committee on the progress it made in the first quarter of the financial year to implement the government's programme of action.
The report highlights achievements as well as challenges that the department has faced in the first three months of the financial year from April to June 2010.
It indicates that an increasing number of people are willing to take HIV tests. The percentage of patients agreeing to be tested for HIV after counselling has increased to 95 percent. More HIV positive pregnant women (85 percent) are accessing antenatal care including the prophylaxis to prevent babies from getting HIV.
The tuberculosis (TB) cure rate has increased to 79.4 percent. Ninety nine percent of sputa results are received within 48 hours leading to early diagnosis and treatment.
In each district, TB defaulter tracer teams consist of 21 retired professional nurses and 23 data capturers. These teams are to be increased in all districts to assist in reducing the treatment interruption rates and sustain the improvement in TB cure rates.
Progress was also made in reducing waiting time with 19 out of 32 community health centres and 21 out of 34 hospital pharmacies having reduced their waiting times to the baselines.
According to the baselines patients can expect to be served within 88 to 200 minutes of arriving at a community health centre. Patients to outpatients departments of hospitals can expect to be served within 55 to 150 minutes.
The supply of three months medication to stable chronic patients from hospitals and antiretroviral (ARV) sites is assisting in reducing waiting times in pharmacies and outpatient departments.
There was a challenge with the distribution of assistive devices with 2 078 distributed instead of 8 000. The backlog will be cleared during the course of the year.
The department has employed more than 400 health professionals in this period and deployed more than 1 900 medical interns and community services doctors and nurses to hospitals and clinics. Also in response to the ever increasing challenges in social services, 27 social workers, four nurses and 35 administrative posts were filled.
The oral health team has increased the number of times they visit schools introducing more than 80 000 school children to the brushing teeth programme. As a result, 12 400 fissure sealants (a thin plastic protective film painted on the chewing surfaces of back teeth) were placed in school children.
More than 900 children have been placed on foster care and also 20 601 children received school uniform as part of the Bana Pele programme.
Expenditure remains the main challenge. The department is paying accruals from the previous year and bills for this year and this has resulted in the 25 percent expenditure in the first quarter.
At this stage the department is projecting over-expenditure. However this picture is likely to change once the accruals from the financial year have been stabilised.
"Trying to do projection on quarter one does not give a true reflection of what the situation will be at the end of the year," said Head of Department, Dr Kamy Chetty.
It is estimated that the budget will be overspent by R1.15 billion on human resources. This is because of the payment of occupation specific dispensation; another R1.1 billion to be over spent on goods and services due to accrual that had to be paid from the current budget.
The department has instructed all institutions and regions to contain costs to minimise spending on non-essential items. We are trying to manage cash flow.
In this first quarter we have been working with the Auditor-General's office, the Provincial and National Treasury to put in place control measures. We have also identified cost drivers.
We are committed to try and get a clean audit. We are looking at putting a number of measures such as improving asset registers.
Enquiries:
Mandla Sidu
Cell: 082 773 9013
Simon Zwane
Cell: 082 551 9892
Province
