Honourable House Chairperson Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Chairperson of Portfolio Committee For Health Hon. Dunjwa and Honourable members of the committee
Honourable members of the National Assembly
Distinguished guests
Good morning
I am pleased to have this privilege of participating in the 2016/17 Budget Vote of the Department of Health. This year is very special as we commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the 1976 student’s uprisings which started on the 16th of June 1976 in SOWETO.
This is an epoch of our history which contributed immensely to the democracy we are enjoying today. Many of us in this 5th parliament especially amongst ANC members were profoundly influenced by this era of our history in the contribution we made to our country ever since. 40 years ago on this day I was a matric student down in Polokwane and few weeks later my life changed forever.
So as we table our budget vote today I want to dedicate it to the young men and women of my generation many of whom paid with their lives for our freedom and democracy.
Honourable Chairperson, Our country remains challenged by the quadruple burden of disease one of which is injuries through violence and accidents. This week is the UN Global Road Safety Week and it is therefore an indictment on us that a week ago we witnessed one of the bloodiest times on our roads with dozens of lives lost including seven students from Wits University.
This carnage is a reminder that we must do more to improve safety on our roads. We pass our condolences to the families and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
Honourable members, on the 25th September 2015 the U.N General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which aim to truly “Transform our world” We welcome this adoption because we have long accepted that dealing with challenges such as poverty, poor education, gender inequality, clean water supply, climate change and all SDG targets will go a long way in improving health outcomes.
So we do not only welcome Goal 3 which is to “ensure healthy lives and promote well- being for all at all ages” but rather we welcome all the 17 goals and their targets to be achieved by 2030.
We appreciate the fact that we must lay major emphasis on promotion of health and prevention of disease. In terms of non- communicable diseases the target is “By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non- communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well – being”.
Unhealthy diet remains one of the major contributors to non – communicable diseases due to obesity. In this regard we have in 2015/16 adopted a five year strategy for prevention and control of obesity. It is within this ambit that we welcome the minister of finance’s introduction of tax on sugar sweetened beverages in his budget speech in February this year.
We remind honourable members and the country that the WHO recommends that free sugars should constitute less than 10% of total energy intake per day.
For practical purposes, a 330ml can of fizzy drink which is equal to eight teaspoons of sugar is enough for the entire days sugar need for our bodies. Free sugar does not only contribute to obesity but also to dental carries especially amongst children.
Hon Chair and members we remain focused on the important intervention of screening for NCDS for early detection. We have integrated our screening for diabetes and hypertension with the mass HIV counseling and testing programme. It was encouraging earlier this year to see scores of young people queuing to be screened at a youth career expo hosted by the Deputy President in SOWETO.
We are currently working with the Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of South Africa (IPASA) which is made up of 25 pharmaceutical companies to improve our screening process and I wish to thank them for their contribution. We also wish to thank all NGOs and private companies who continue to contribute in screening and awareness programmes.
One area which is still under resourced which we are increasing services on is screening for mental health. In April this year the World Bank and WHO hosted a joint meeting where the need to invest in detection and management of depression and anxiety was highlighted. We need to allocate more resources to these services.
In terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, the Child Justice Act and our own Health Act our department has particular responsibilities in relation to offenders with alleged or established mental illness. As a result of capacity constraints there are long lists of offenders awaiting mental observations and also state patients waiting for beds. In March this year 921 detainees were awaiting mental observations and 181 state patients were waiting for hospital beds. To discuss possible solutions a seminar of all role players was held in March this year which I opened. From this meeting it was agreed to review certain legislations, revitalise some psychiatric hospitals and improve skills training.
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in our country especially breast and cervical cancer amongst women and prostate cancer amongst men. Three years ago the minister appointed an advisory committee on cancer. After consultation, this committee has almost completed a new policy and strategy as well as policies on specific cancers such as breast and cervical cancer for adoption.
Their review of cancer research showed that we need to do more on health promotion and health systems. With regard to availability of services their survey found that there are large parts of the country with little or no cancer services.
The term of office of the current committee has come to an end and I wish to take this opportunity to thank all of them for their pioneering work under the leadership of Chaiperson and Vice Chair Prof Sewram and Ms Asante –Shongwe respectively. They are currently on six months extension.
Hon chairperson we have long recognised that our services for people with disabilities and for rehabilitation have been inadequate. While there has been some improvement of access to our facilities it is still not good enough. We have now adopted a “framework and strategy for rehabilitation and Disability Services 2015-2020” which we will implement together with our provinces.
Hounarable members with regard to malaria, our department is still focusing on elimination which will mean zero new local cases. Malaria cases were reduced by 57% from 14817 to 6376 cases and deaths by 74%, from 218 to 58 deaths between 2014/15 and 2015/16 financial years. South Africa was presented with the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) award for achieving malaria goal of the MDGs at the ALMA meeting of Heads of State and government of the African Union in January 2016.
Because we cannot afford complaisancy we will identify exact geographical locations where local malaria transmission is occurring and apply the WHO approved malaria interventions of Larviciding, Indoor Residual Spraying and Screening and Treatment.
I am also excited to report that we have signed a declaration through the MOSASWA (Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland) Malaria Initiative. The goal of the Mosaswa initiative is to accelerate the transition from pre-elimination to elimination of malaria in Swaziland, South-Africa and Mozambique.
Honourable members we are making progress in our quest to improve nursing in terms of education and practice. The National Strategic Plan for Nursing Education, Training and Practice 2012-2017 has elicited several recommendations. As you know we now have the National Chief Nursing Officer. A national policy for Nursing Education and Training is currently under way. The policy seeks to address the following among others:
- Provide a framework for the standardisation of the management and administration of nursing education nationally.
- Address issues of curricula for the new nursing courses.
- Ensure that the right calibre of nursing students are recruited and selected into the profession. Our target is to see the new policy being implemented by 2019.
Honourable Chairperson and members we remain forever grateful to the Nelson Mandela / Fidel Castro Bilateral Agreement on health which is finishing 20 years this year. Through this agreement South Africa enjoys the services of Cuban specialists in remote and rural areas where in many cases our hospitals and even teaching institutions are highly dependent on them. We currently have 319 Cuban doctors in service compared to 196 last year.
The RSA Cuban medical training programme is growing from strength to strength and has to date since inception, produced 518 doctors to our country. This number includes a further injection of 55 doctors who completed at the end of the year 2015 and will graduate in July 2016. There are also 110 students who are currently doing final clinical training in the local medical schools. Currently there are 2993 South African students pursuing medical training in Cuba.
In the second half of 2018 we will receive more than 800 final year medical students who will be absorbed in our local medical schools to complete their final year. We are working with all the medical schools and provincial departments to make sure that we will have the capacity to undertake this mammoth task. We see this as a good challenge to transform the orientation of our own training of medical students and expand the training platform.
During the financial year 2015/16 an assessment was done on the current capacity of the central hospitals which led to the development of a draft organisational structure for them.
For the financial year 2015/16 in addition to Steve Biko, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, and Groote Schuur hospitals which are fully compliant with the National Core Standards, Greys Provincial Tertiary hospital has achieved an overall score of 91% & Kalafong Provincial Tertiary hospital 80%.
In the 2015/16 financial year we had targeted four additional tertiary hospitals (Pietersburg, Frere, Kimberley and Ngwelezane) who now have 80% of the full packages of tertiary one services. In the 2016/17 financial year we are targeting an additional four tertiary hospitals (Mankweng, Rob Ferreira, Kalafong and Klerksdorp/Tshepong Complex) to provide the full package of T1 services.
The Regulations governing the promotion of emergency medical services are currently being rolled out and the setting up of Provincial Inspection and Licensing Committees as well as the compliance of Emergency Medical Services is planned for this financial year. The roll out of the National Emergency Care Education and Training Policy has already commenced.
The National Department of Health is working closely with the Department of Higher Education and Training to assist in preparing the Department’s Colleges of Emergency Care. Through the Department of Telecommunications the phasing in of the National universal three digit toll free number will take place.
Honourable members we have made progress in improving the forensic pathology and forensic Chemistry laboratories services. We have reduced the backlog in the national ante-mortem blood alcohol analysis dealing mainly with motor vehicle accidents.
The Durban laboratory is currently decreasing the pressure on the Pretoria and Cape Town laboratories. It has received 18,207 blood alcohol samples for analysis from April 2015 to March 2016 and a total of 16505 have been analysed. In the same period nationally 94784 samples were analysed and 77503 received. This increased capacity will go a long way in speeding up conviction in courts for drunken driving cases.
Honourable Chairperson, the Department of Health has oversight over a number of schedule 3A public entities which we will briefly reflect on:-
A) National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS)
The NHLS remains the prime diagnostic pathology service in South Africa with the responsibility of supporting the national and provincial health departments in the delivery of healthcare. It provides laboratory and related public health services to over 80% of the population through a national network of laboratories.
Its specialised divisions include the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Institute for Occupational Health, National Cancer Registry and the Antivenin Unit.
The NHLS together with the Department of Health, will focus on exploring an alternative reimbursement model for laboratory tests, using a global budget allocation instead of fee for service, and is planning to pilot this model over the medium term. This entity continues to fulfill its mandate of teaching, training and research in collaboration with higher education institutions.
The NHLS supports Government’s plans towards addressing the challenges of HIV and AIDS and TB in an integrated manner.
B) The National Public Health Institute of South Africa (NAPHISA)
The department published the National Public Health Institute of South Africa (NAPHISA) Bill for public comment during November 2015.
The aim of NAPHISA is to provide integrated and coordinated disease and injury surveillance, research, monitoring and evaluation of services and interventions directed towards the major public health problems affecting in South Africa.
C) Council for Medical Schemes (CMS)
The Council for Medical Schemes will continue to protect the interests of beneficiaries. The council’s focus over the medium term will be on strengthening its monitoring and compliance activities to ensure that registered medical schemes comply with the Medical Schemes Act (1998); providing a platform for the resolution of complaints by medical scheme beneficiaries; and developing a register of patients covered by medical schemes.
CMS continued to analyse and report on the financial performance of medical schemes and in ensuring adherence to the financial requirements of the Act. Currently there are no medical schemes under curatorship.
D) Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC)
The OHSC commenced with its operations as an independent body on 01 April 2015. In the year 2015/16 the OHSC achieved 13% inspection coverage of the health establishments in the public sector which was 3% above the targeted coverage of 10%. There were 495 public health facilities visited by the Office and the number over the medium term is targeted at 725 public health establishments by 2018/19.
More resources will be required for the Office to have maximum capacity to be able to at least do 25% inspection coverage per annum to be able to reach the 100% cover by 2019/20.
E) South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)
The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) continues to be a science council of international stature that funds cutting edge research that impacts on the health of South Africans.
The SAMRC in 2016/17 will:
- Award 120 research grants;
- Fund 30 innovation and technology projects to develop new diagnostics, devices, vaccines and therapeutics;
- Award 70 bursaries / scholarships / fellowships for post-graduate studies at masters, doctoral and post-doctoral levels; and
- Publish in excess of 500 journal articles.
- Funding has been awarded to 10 TB & HIV/AIDS Collaborating Centres across the country to ensure that this burden is curbed by employing the services of highly acclaimed scientists. The SAMRC has also invested funds into 3 Malaria Collaborating Centres. Our scientists provide strategic and scientific support to other African countries who battle malaria.
The SAMRC has also obtained and manages a number of locally and internationally funded research contracts totalling R 737 million. This funding has been secured through partnerships with organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Medical Research Council UK, The Newton Fund and the Department of International Development.
Honourable Chairperson we call on honourable members to support our budget vote. I thank you all. Kea leboga
