Health Indibano Abbotsford Christian Centre, East London
29 June 2006
Programme Director
Our Honourable Minister Dr Tshabalala-Msimang
Our Traditional Leadership
Members of the Legislature
Executive Mayors and Councillors
Heads of departments
Heads of parastatals
Faith formations
Chamber of Business
Labour Movement
Hospital boards
Clinic committees
Community based organisation
Non-governmental coalition
Members of the media
All our partners
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
As I stand here in front of you this morning, I am already feeling the
valuable weight of your presence in this time of reflection, rededication and
introspection as the Eastern Cape Department of Health. I am standing here,
mindful of the defining moment and occasion this Health Indibano is in our
history as the Department of Health in this province and also as government
broadly.
It is in this vein, Programme Director, that I am pregnant with
anticipation, with zeal, with expectation, given the representatively, the
holistic and comprehensive participation we anticipate in this forum. Before I
forget, mine is to welcome you here to the Central Region of our beloved
province and briefly give an overview of what the Health Indibano hopes to
achieve.
Firstly, let me point out that the core competency of the provincial
Department of Health is the provision of health service; in other words
promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services. The mission
of the department is to provide and ensure accessible, comprehensive,
integrated services in the Eastern Cape province, emphasising the primary
healthcare approach, utilising and developing all resources, to enable all its
present and future generations to enjoy health and quality of life.
The initiative of hosting this first Health Indibano calls for stronger
participation of multi-stakeholders, contributing towards strengthening of
health services and further contributing towards building quality healthcare in
the Eastern Cape province for all.
Many health problems lie outside the direct control of the health sector and
affect the most vulnerable of our population. Inadequate water and sanitation,
improper waste disposal, overcrowded homes and the dependence on available
transport systems, require attention. While health is significant in its own
right, it is also the key to productivity. Addressing these issues and being
committed to service delivery will ensure progress towards realising the goals
and theme of Indibano 2006, which is Building Quality Healthcare in the Eastern
Cape.
Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of the Indibano is:
* to review the achievements in the first decade of freedom in improving
access to healthcare
* to review the vision of quality healthcare for all, and the assessment of
provision of quality of care in the public sector health institutions
* to chart a way forward on achieving the vision of wellness and quality
healthcare for all in 2014 and beyond.
The objectives of the Indibano are:
* To provide stakeholders in the health sector with opportunities to reflect
and engage on the vision of wellness and quality of healthcare provision within
the Eastern Cape province
* To interrogate and explore common understanding of health challenges of the
first decade of democracy, as well as strategies and commitments by
stakeholders in addressing them for the next ten years and beyond
* To build partnerships for wellness by soliciting the participation and
commitment of the private sector, labour, broader civil society and community
representation towards a shared vision of wellness and quality healthcare for
all
* We also would like to emerge with a clear programme of action and monitoring
mechanism towards the year 2014 and beyond.
The anticipated outcomes for the Indibano will include:
* A shared vision of quality healthcare in the Eastern Cape province.
* A shared perspective and understanding of provision of health services in the
first decade on the one hand, and challenges to be address in the next ten
years and beyond on the other.
* We also anticipate common understanding and processes of accelerating the
implementation of the Health Mandates, Provincial Growth and Development
Programme Goals, Priority Health Programmes and Millennium Development Goals;
this is in order to enhance the quality of healthcare in the province.
* A shared understanding of the processes for engagement of broader
stakeholders and communities on the vision and strategic goals to be achieved
in the next decade and beyond.
* A shared understanding on the evaluation processes to be put in place in
order to ensure transparent governance within the Provincial Health System.
Programme Director, at the end of the day we want to emerge with an Action
Plan that will determine and guide our activities and programmes through to
2014. It is notable that we are now in the second decade of our freedom and
democracy.
The plan that we produce therefore as this collective, will be the roadmap
of how we tackle, confront and manage our programme of action towards a
province that is well and healthy. The critical indicator and point of emphasis
in evaluating our health system is not in the absence of disease, but in the
healthy well being of an individual. In other words all of us have a role to
produce or work towards producing a well-balanced and healthy individual
socially, mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. This notion
clearly demonstrates the multi-pronged, holistic and intersectoral action plan
that we need to emerge with and embrace as this collective, in order to realise
our vision of providing a health service to the people of the Eastern Cape
province, promoting a better health for all.
The different strata and sectors of our society are a support system to
ensure that we move in unison in addressing health challenges, plans as well as
celebrating achievements. The social fibre of our society is also a barometer
of the extent to which we as government and indeed as this congregation are to
realise the ideal of a just, safe, and healthy environment. The significance of
stakeholder participation in this Indibano is the very tonic that will see us
as partners move in leaps and bounds and become capacitated to address
challenges before us.
I want to take this opportunity to welcome all of you and express our
heartfelt appreciation as the department that you have heeded the call to avail
yourselves in order to build and strengthen the health service in the Eastern
Cape. We also appreciate the presence of our Minister Dr Tshabalala-Msimang who
is an inspirational and dedicated leader of our people whose vision continues
to inspire us.
It is in this vein that I implore each one of you to share your wisdom, to
share your experiences, to participate fully in the commission sessions in the
knowledge that our children, brothers and sisters, the young and elderly,
generations to come, stand to benefit because in the next two days you will
have made your contribution in the quest to provide quality health care for
all.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Health, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
29 June 2006
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecdoh.gov.za)
