launch of the National Consultative Health Forum, Sandton Convention
Centre
18 May 2006
Sanibonani Nonke!
Good morning all!
Thank you, DG for the introduction.
My colleagues, the MECs for Health
Members of Parliament and municipal councils,
Representatives of our various stakeholder groups,
Representatives of Provincial Consultative Health Forums,
Officials from the national and provincial departments of Health,
Officials from other government departments,
Ladies and gentlemen
It gives me a great pleasure to officially open this inaugural meeting of
the National Consultative Health Forum. As you know we have a legal obligation
to constitute and host meetings of this Forum at least once a year.
The National Health Act provides the legal framework for the establishment
of national and provincial consultative health forums. These forums are meant
to strengthen the dialogue amongst all partners in the health sector. We should
therefore use this opportunity not only to engage with the Department of
Health, but also to engage amongst ourselves as role-players in this
sector.
As representatives of government, we will listen very attentively to what
you have to say about particularly the achievements and challenges that you
experience. We wish to hear if you have any innovative ideas about your
involvement in the governance of the health system and strengthening of service
delivery.
Programme Director, let me turn now to the priorities that the National
Health Council has adopted for this term of office of government ending in
2009. The National Health Council as you know is made up of the Minister and
Deputy Minister of Health, Health MECs from nine provinces and representatives
of SALGA (South African Local Government Association).
After much deliberation, we decided that even though we have a set of 10
priorities for the term, there were a few issues that we needed to lift out so
that we give them a special attention. It is important that we highlight these
priorities as we engage with each other over the next day and a half.
The first priority is to get the size and the shape of the health system
correct. We need to improve access to all levels of care, starting with
community and home-based care right up to quaternary care.
This means that we need what we term a service transformation plan for each
province which should be based on district level service plans. These plans
will be informed by and will also determine the inputs or resources we need to
invest to further transform our health system.
Secondly, I am sure that you are aware that 2006 is the year in which the
world is celebrating the efforts of health workers as result of the resolution
of the World Health Assembly. We took this opportunity to launch our National
Human Resource for Health Plan on the World Health Day (April 07).
The Human Resources Plan for Health is not only about how many health
workers we need in the different categories. It must also address the issues of
competencies, the quality of health service delivery and the retention of
health workers within the health system.
Part of our human resources for health strategy must be to better utilise
health professionals in the private health sector given that a significant
number of doctors, pharmacists and dentists in particular are in the private
health sector.
A few weeks ago I was in Limpopo where I addressed specialists from the
private sector in order to encourage them to work in the public health sector,
even if on a 5/8ths basis. I believe that this meeting was very successful in
putting in place a process that will begin to address some of the management
difficulties as well as some of the perceptions about the two sectors.
As you may know the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has
asked its members to embark on a national strike today to advocate for an
acceleration in job creation, protection of jobs and an end to poverty. While
we understand the need to accelerate our efforts to grow the economy and
alleviate poverty one of our key strategies to deal with this is the
Accelerated and Shared Growth Development for South Africa (AsgiSA) which we
shall be hearing about next. I am really happy that health workers are at work,
they realise that they are part of essential services and therefore cannot
abandon their posts.
We commend health workers on the high degree of responsibility that they
have shown today and I think that we should applaud them.
I am very concerned about the levels of remuneration of our health workers
as well as the conditions under which some of us work. We have tried to address
these issues in the past few years e.g., we implemented a scarce skills and
rural allowance package a few years ago and we have embarked on a hospital
revitalisation programme to name a few interventions.
However, I am acutely aware of the problems in the implementation of the
scarce skills allowances and we have therefore established a task team with the
Department of Public Service and Administration and National Treasury to
speedily develop a new remuneration package for all health workers. I am happy
to say that significant work has been done in this regard so that we can inform
the budget process for 2007/08.
Thirdly, we need to a series of interventions to improve quality of care at
all levels. Some of you might know that since January this year, we have
requested all hospitals to implement hospital improvement plans. We want to
ensure that hospital managers take responsibility for fixing all maintenance
problems. But they should also ensure that critical issues to health service
delivery like infection control are strengthened in their facilities.
At primary health care level we want to strengthen supervision of clinics so
that the quality of care improves. Part of the process of quality improvements
is community participation. I therefore call on all communities to strengthen
their participation in the governance of clinics and hospitals. Make sure that
clinic committees and hospital boards are vibrant institutions that work for
our communities.
Fourthly, we need to accelerate the pace at which we are repairing our
existing infrastructure and building new facilities. The feeling we are getting
from health workers is that apart from salaries, the provision of suitable
working conditions is vital to job satisfaction. This includes the provision of
appropriate workplace environment, the necessary equipment and strengthening of
management capacity.
We are monitoring closely the expenditure on capital projects to ensure that
provinces utilise the resources that are available. We are available to assist
as much as possible in addressing bottle-necks in the expenditure of the
hospital revitalisation budget in provinces.
The fifth priority is what we have called priority health programmes. I must
stress these are not the only programmes that are important. We must continue
to strengthen all health programmes but we decided that the following should be
emphasised.
The first is healthy lifestyles. It is very important that we eat correctly,
that we have sufficient physical exercise and that we avoid risky behaviour, be
it tobacco use, irresponsible alcohol use or risky sexual behaviour. It is
vital that we strengthen our social mobilisation campaigns and our educational
campaigns in these areas.
At the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) meeting
in Maputo last year, African Ministers of Health decided to prioritise both
tuberculosis (TB) control and prevention of HIV infection. As South Africa we
launched a National TB Crisis Management Plan focussing particularly on four
districts to begin with (those are Amatole District and Nelson Mandela Metro in
Eastern Cape, City of Johannesburg in Gauteng and Ethekwini Metro in
KwaZulu-Natal).
Finally, we are working on an accelerated HIV prevention strategy which we
are going to launch on June 16, coinciding with the Youth Day celebration in
the country. We are already doing much in this area but wish to sharpen our
focus in some areas. Maybe this meeting can also provide us with some ideas of
what more needs to be done to enhance the effectiveness of our prevention
interventions.
In conclusion, let me remind all of us of our vision of an accessible,
caring and high quality health system. In order to achieve this we must work
together. I encourage all delegates to participate fully in the working groups
so that we can generate recommendations that can assist in improving the health
system.
I regret to inform you that whilst I shall host dinner this evening, that I
shall not be able to join you tomorrow as I leave for Geneva late tonight to
join other African Health Ministers in a meeting to prepare for the World
Health Assembly that commences on Monday.
After the World Health Assembly (WHA), I will proceed to the United Nations
General Assembly Special Session in New York from 31 May â June 02. Government
will be addressing this meeting on its opening day focussing on re-intensifying
prevention and translating knowledge to behaviour change.
As the Minister of Health, I have also been invited to participate in a
panel discussion (June 02) on Sustainable and predictable financing for scaled
up AIDS response. Other panellists in this discussion include the Global Fund
Executive Director, Prof Richard and Vice President of the World Bank,
Jean-Louis Sarbib.
This United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) is critical as
it is going to significantly influence the nature and form of the global
response to the challenge of HIV and AIDS over the next years up to 2010 and
beyond. It is therefore important to approach this meeting in its global
context and with an understanding of the global health agenda as it relates to
us as a developing nation and an African country.
We have to understand the factors that make us in Africa to be more
vulnerable to the spread of HIV infection and the impact of AIDS compared to
developed regions. We have to keep in mind the global factors that hamper our
efforts to break the cycle of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa.
The global nature of the challenges before us requires that we act in unity
for our response to achieve maximum impact. Hence, we have invited various
sectors of civil society to be part of the South African delegation to this
meeting. We cannot allow our narrow organisational interests and ideological
perspectives to undermine the efforts to achieve a united multi-sectoral
response to the challenge of HIV and AIDS.
At the WHA and UNGASS, we will do our best to represent the interest of our
country, the continent and the rest of the developing nations.
In a global environment that is dominated by various forms of inequality and
injustices against the poor, the unity of all those who stand for health and
social justice is paramount especially at such important international forums
as the United Nations and the World Health Assembly.
I wish you all fruitful deliberations for today and tomorrow and I am
looking forward to receiving the outcomes and recommendations from this
meeting.
Thank you!
Enquiries:
Sibani Mngadi
E-mail: sibanimngadi@hotmail.com
Issued by: Department of Health
18 May 2006
