South Africa is ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Deputy Minister of Health Dr Molefi Sefularo told the President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, Mr Stephen Haynes, at the breakfast seminar on the preparedness of South African private and public health sector for the soccer tournament this morning.
The meeting, also attended by deputy in charge of the South African Mission, Mr Johnny Moloto and members of the Corporate Council on Africa, at the Corporate Council in Washington DC, was organised to reassure the international community about South Africa's readiness.
"South Africa has pulled out all stops to prepare for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, from the time when President Mandela received the good news from Mr Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, that South Africa would be the first country in Africa to host this important event to date when we confidently tell the world that we are ready for the games," Dr Sefularo, said.
The deputy minister added that preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup resulted in huge investments by South Africa in the development and improvement of infrastructure such as new emergency medical services stations, renovation of hospitals and clinics, improved roads, airports and sports stadia.
Preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup had created work opportunities for the people, business and investment opportunities for various companies and industries and made it imperative that "we scale up training programs for people in various sectors, for example in the tourism, hospitality and building industry and also in the health sector," he said.
In the health sector, the South African government had invested over R1 billion in buildings, emergency vehicles, medical equipment, training of essential support staff and health professionals over the last four years. The public health sector played a leading role in these preparations, ensuring that the FIFA Local Organising Committee, the private health sector and the South African Military Health Services worked together to guarantee seamless delivery of health services during the tournament.
Said Dr Sefularo our emergency medical services, communication systems and disease surveillance systems are in place, we have just completed an inspection tour of all provinces, including football Stadium and public viewing areas. We have assessed the state of our environmental health services. We have also evaluated all our ports of entry. We are satisfied that we are doing well and will be ready on time for the tournament. We are confident that we will leave a great legacy, as all the resources that were made available to us, all assets that we acquired and systems that we have put in place will remain in the health sector long after the tournament for use by all South Africans.
"Our public health information system is part of the systems and infrastructure that is in a high state of readiness to deal with our daily needs and the challenge that is posed by the hosting of the FIFA World Cup. We have a ministerial project that is currently being pursued to reconfigure and put in place unitary and truly national information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure for health which will be the backbone of our National Health Information System. This is an area which will present business opportunities for companies in the ICT sector to assist us. Improved health informatics and knowledge management will remain a priority after the 2010 FIFA World Cup," he added.
Enquiries:
Charity Bhengu
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Issued by: Department of Health
29 March 2010
Source: Department of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za/)
