The MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo will unveil seventeen new state of the art mobile vehicles suitable for rural communities.
The event will take place on Thursday, 15 March 2012, at Grey's Hospital from 08h00 and journalists are invited.
MEC Dhlomo explains the importance of this intervention by saying; "Our government has put health at the top of developmental priorities. It means that people should not be denied access to life-saving and health-promoting interventions for geo-political reasons, including those with economic or social causes. Simply stated, access to health is of life-and-death importance."
On Thursday, the MEC will unveil seventeen brand new and state of the art mobile clinics to add to the current fleet of 170. The mobile services are serving 2 518 points and serving a total population of 2,3 million people (2009/10). The numbers of people who use primary healthcare services have been increasing in the past four years and are estimated to be around 23 million people.
The vehicles to be unveiled by the MEC have been specially built to allow them to be able to reach hard to reach terrains and offer "a full spectrum of services that entail health promotion including advocacy, social mobilisation, and counseling health education as well as palliative care for those with terminal illnesses" adds MEC Dhlomo. These vehicles are able to travel in the most rural and underdeveloped areas of the province.
The primary health care approach, believes the department, is the most efficient, fair, and cost-effective way to organise a health system. It can prevent much of the disease burden, and it can also prevent people with minor complaints from flooding the hospitals. "Decades of experience tell us that primary health care produces better outcomes, at lower costs, and with higher user satisfaction," continues MEC Dhlomo.
The emerging disease patterns require a paradigm shift towards a more focused and integrated approach which these vehicles can offer. "Such an approach," concludes MEC Dhlomo "should include primary and secondary prevention and screening interventions as part of the continuum of care."
