the official opening of the Pelonomi Regional Hospital, Bloemfontein
17 October 2006
Programme Director
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
We are gathered here today to join the world in celebrating World Trauma
Day. Today we also celebrate the fulfilment of a dream. Professor Theron has
provided an interesting history of the development of traumatology in the Free
State and I salute the visionary efforts and pioneer work done by this team
since 1983.
Ladies and gentlemen the accident and emergency facilities in the Free State
have increased dramatically and today, we are opening a state of the art,
hi-tech world class facility. This new facility will provide a world class
accident and emergency service to the community.
It is important that we look at the causes of trauma in our society.
Poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment, social disruption and the
disintegration of our social fabric are some of the main factors underlying
many social challenges facing our communities in the Free State today,
including violence and injury. The struggle for survival and competition for
limited resources leads to various forms of anti-social behaviours including
violent crimes.
The World Health Organisation estimates that in 2000 approximately 57 000
homicides took place among children under 15 years of age and in the same year
over 1,6 million people lost their lives to violence worldwide. Road traffic
accidents claim 1,2 million lives per year. They also injure or disable an
estimated 20 and 50 million people per year.
Programme Director, it is clear from the aforementioned that violence is a
growing public health concern. It poses a great challenge to the already
burdened health system in terms of the increasing number of people with
injuries presenting themselves at health facilities. A huge amount of resources
goes towards rehabilitation, healing and overall management of survivors of
injuries.
The national Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, made a
commitment that South Africa would support the prioritisation of dialogue on
injury prevention and safety promotion. South Africa had the honour of hosting
the launch of the World Report on Violence and Health in 2002 and since then,
numerous initiatives have been put in place to address this challenge.
In the Free State the Arrive Alive campaign aims at reducing the number of
road traffic accidents by ensuring that unroadworthy vehicles are not allowed
onto our roads, and by modifying the behaviour of road-users. One of the
critical messages of this campaign is to highlight the risk of using the road
while under the influence of alcohol for both motorists and pedestrians. As we
are celebrating Transport Month in October, I need to remind all that a new
licensing system has been introduced to ensure that drivers are skilled and
they undergo regular eye-tests as a condition for holding a driver's
licence.
Efforts are currently underway to replace the minibus taxis that I am sure
you have noticed on our roads. Government has initiated a Taxi Recapitalisation
programme which will lead to all these minibus taxis being replaced by safer
and more comfortable types of vehicles. The Recapitalisation programme is part
of the broader efforts of Government to improve our public transport system in
the country.
It is estimated that up to 69% of women worldwide reported having suffered
physical assault by an intimate male partner at some point in their lives.
These figures highlight the major challenges that women still face in many
parts of the world.
Here in South Africa, we speak of emancipation of women from triple
oppression because the majority of women were oppressed on the basis of their
race, class and gender. Our government has made deliberate efforts to improve
the socio-economic status of women and to create gender equality. We provide
comprehensive management for survivors of sexual assault, which includes
appropriate medical care, social support and legal services to support
survivors and bring perpetrators to book.
Government's interventions against violent crimes are bearing fruit with
reduction in levels of crime being observed since the attainment of our
democracy in 1994. Recently, the Institute of Security Studies released a
report which indicated that serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder,
car theft and hijacking are decreasing across the country. The report indicates
that cases of murder decreased by 30% between 1994 and 2004 and it attributes
this progress to better policing and more people being covered by the social
security net, which has alleviated financial stress among the poor.
A number of interventions have been put in place to alleviate the plight of
the poor including free primary healthcare and free health service for pregnant
and lactating women, children under six years of age and people with
disabilities. The number of people receiving social grants has increased
significantly. There is free housing for the poor, about 3,9 million households
receive free basic water and free basic electricity reaches 2,9 million
households.
The report highlights the need to deal with drug related crimes and drunken
driving. As government we are putting in place interventions against alcohol
abuse. In addition to legal restrictions in terms of the sale of alcohol, we
have included alcohol abuse as the main focus area in our Health Lifestyle
programme.
Government is also working on regulations to introduce labelling of
containers of alcoholic products with health warnings. Our aim is to raise
awareness amongst our people about the harmful health and social effects of
alcohol. Currently, our communities are bombarded by messages that encourage
alcohol consumption. We have to ensure that there is some balance between the
promotion of these products and the understanding of the negative effects of
irresponsible drinking.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the need for an accident and emergency unit such as
this one we are opening today is evident in the latest emergency statistics
made available by the Department of Health. As an example, between the periods
August 2005 to August 2006, 5 337 emergency assaults were reported and treated
at Pelonomi Hospital; 110 gunshot patients and 2 252 patients were admitted for
being involved in motor vehicle accidents. I need not remind us all about the
devastating effects of irresponsible drinking on all our lives. Many of us have
suffered loss due to this scourge or know somebody who has lost a loved one. In
many cases, the survivors of traumatic incidents such as vehicle accidents,
violent suicide attempts, or any other violence related incident lands up in
the hands of the men and women working in our new accident and emergency
unit.
The construction of the Pelonomi Accident and Emergency Unit started late in
2003 and a total investment of R18,3 million from the Revitalisation Fund was
made. We purchased state of the art equipment to the value of R24 million. All
in all, today this unit contributed R42,3 million to the local economy. Since
operationalisation the unit has treated 1 108 trauma cases.
Programme Director, this world class facility treats all life-threatening
cases referred here from all over the Free State, parts of the Eastern Cape,
Northern Cape and Lesotho. Since Pelonomi Hospital was designated as a regional
hospital rendering secondary services to the Southern Free State community in
1994, it is also rendering some tertiary services one of which was Trauma.
The unit has 100 beds, 14 of which are for high risk patients and an 18 bed
Resuscitation area. The modern equipment found in the unit enables the
personnel to render a very effective service. An example of this is the
wireless monitoring system which enables the personnel to monitor patients at a
central point.
The unit consists of a resuscitation area, trauma unit and trauma ward, high
care unit, short stay ward (trauma A), reception area, trauma orthopaedics,
waiting area, family room, theatre, procedure room, administrative wing, and a
P.O.P (plaster of Paris) room. Two qualified doctors are also on duty 24 hours
a day. The medical staff is supported by nursing staff that are trained in
Trauma and critical care.
Other disciplines such as Orthopaedics provide a 24 hour specialist service
to the unit. The unit is accessible to handle all life threatening emergencies
and major trauma patients referred here. I need to mention that only referred
patients are treated here and walking-in patients are referred to the casualty
department of the hospital. The unit is equipped with a fully functional
helicopter pad and ambulance bay.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen this Unit is truly a remarkable
achievement and I want to congratulate all who have worked so hard to ensure
the completion of that project. I can assure you that the Unit is staffed with
dedicated, highly trained healthcare professionals, and that the hi-tech
equipment at their disposal is utilised appropriately. It is an honour to now
declare this unit officially opened.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Health, Free State Provincial Government
17 October 2006
