Telemedicine Project launch at Pietersburg Hospital in Polokwane, Limpopo
province
23 October 2007
Honourable MEC for Health
Head of department
Hospital management
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Allow me to first express our deepest condolences to the families and
relatives of the health workers that were killed at Seshego Hospital last week.
We also express our appreciation to the police for the speedy response and
arrest of the person responsible for this violent and senseless incident. I
hope he gets convicted and the court hands him a heaviest sentence
possible.
It is important, programme director that we do not allow this incident to
discourage our hospital managers from taking appropriate action against any
employee who is charged with misconduct. The Department of Health remains
committed to empowering and delegating authority to hospital managers to manage
both human and financial resources in a manner that enables hospitals to
respond adequately to the needs of our people.
This incident at Seshego Hospital and the sad killing of our reggae
international star, Lucky Dube highlights the need for all of us to address the
challenges of violence and trauma in our society. The Department of Health will
play its role as part of a government collective to ensure that violence
prevention measures and safety and security plans of the country are
implemented effectively to respond to these challenges.
Let me now turn to the issue before us today, which is the launch of the
Telemedicine Project and the official opening of the Renal Dialysis Unit. The
Renal Dialysis Unit is a public-private partnership, which is involved in the
refurbishing of Renal Dialysis Unit at Mankweng Hospital Complex in Polokwane.
The base-case occupancy level is 80 patients. The partnership has provided a
full range of haemodialysis services, which includes:
* 22 dialysis machine units
* 16 machines for chronic patients
* two machines for septic patients
* four machines for acute dialysis
* peritoneal outpatient services.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is vital for social change
and economic development. It is increasingly seen as an essential tool for
developing our communities.
The South African National Telemedicine Strategy seeks to integrate the
healthcare system by connecting and giving support to remote and rural medical
centres of South Africa and most importantly, strengthening the referral
systems.
From April 1999 to March 2000, phase I of telemedicine was implemented in
six provinces in South Africa, focusing mainly on four clinical applications,
which include the tele-radiology, tele-pathology, tele-ophthalmology and
tele-ultrasound.
The purpose of this project is to research cost effectiveness and efficiency
of Telemedicine in expanding access to quality healthcare, particularly
targeting poor people living in remote areas. By supporting the implementation
of the project, health professionals in rural areas will be empowered in using
Information and Communication Technology to provide quality healthcare and at
the same time patients will reap the ultimate rewards of these efforts.
This project is proof that various State agencies can work together for the
better life of all South Africans. The Medical Research Council of South Africa
(MRCSA), State Information Technology Agency, the Department of Science and
Technology and Department of Health have collaborated in the development of
this wireless network for this Telemedicine project in the remote areas of
Limpopo.
The medical staff of the Department of Health embraced the technology and is
already making a positive impact on the lives of patients. Connectivity plays a
vital role in the success of Telemedicine. Wireless technology is fast on the
rise globally and enabled this project to provide good quality medical images
remotely. Without proper connectivity, there will be no Telemedicine.
An issue that has been raised by government is the cost of connectivity and
the need to bring down the cost of connectivity. We need to address this
challenge so that we can achieve the objective of this project, which is to
extend the current network using this wireless technology to include more
facilities. This will mean that more rural and remote healthcare centres will
be included to the Limpopo network.
Discussions are taking place to expand the telemedicine network in Limpopo.
These would include the implementation of nine telemedicine units at six sites.
Further interaction is required to facilitate this process.
Funding models for the expansion of the network will be done and new effort
will be galvanised to supplement the existing legal and ethical frameworks for
the practice of Telemedicine. The Ethics Committee of the Health Professions
Council of South Africa (HPCSA) are studying the current ethical rules for the
practice of Telemedicine in South Africa. They will also need to grapple with
the issues of cross border practice of Telemedicine to really benefit all our
people on the continent.
We now have the infrastructure; we need to see the benefits of these
technologies in their use in the delivery of quality healthcare to our
people.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Health
23 October 2007
Source: Department of Health (http://www.health.gov.za)
