Madam Speaker
Honourable Premier – Mr Senzo Mchunu, Macingwane
Chairperson and Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Portfolio Committee on
Health
Fellow Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Mayors, Councillors and Amakhosi
Chairperson and Members of the provincial AIDS Council
The Head of the Department of Health – Dr Sibongile Zungu
Senior Managers in the Department of Health
Health workers across the length and breadth of the province
Distinguished guests
People of KwaZulu-Natal
Ladies and gentlemen.
Madam Speaker, our budget presentation this year is very significant in that it happens at the dawn of the third decade of our freedom.
It is also presented at the crucial hour when we are just counting months to the President’s 2015 final report-back session at the United Nation’s General Assembly on the progress made in the attainment of the set Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs). In that report, the President amongst other aspects will have to state how far we have gone in meeting the Health related MDGs, which are:
- MDG4: To reduce child mortality
- MDG 5: To improve maternal health
- MDG 6: To combat HIV and AIDS and TB, Malaria and other diseases
We are presenting this Budget Speech just a few weeks after attending the 20th International Aids Congress in Melbourne, Australia, where the global response to Aids once again took centre stage. The World has agreed that the Aids epidemic must be under control by 2030. We all have a challenge to buckle up and ensure that this goal is realised come that time. For us to do that, we will have to pay special attention to those sections of our society that have been identified as the Key Populations, such as adolescent girls, truck drivers, sex workers and Men who have Sex with Men (MSMs).
Madam Speaker, our Budget Presentation is informed and forms the basis of our country’s 2030 National Development Plan which commands us to draw on our collective successes and failures as a nation and commit to improve our future. As a department, we are proud of the structural transformation of the Public Health System we have initiated.
Hundreds of new health facilities have been built or rehabilitated which affords us the opportunity to ensure that health care is free at the point of delivery for pregnant women; young children; persons with disabilities and all the uninsured masses.
Madam Speaker; the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has a good story to tell when considering that just five years ago, this province was the pariah of the whole country with the highest prevalence in all the stated quadruple burden of diseases, which are:
- HIV and AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB)
- High maternal and child mortality
- Alarming and ever-increasing incidence of Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) as well as,
- The pandemic of violence and trauma.
This brings me to the pertinent issue of HIV and AIDS; we are proud to stand up and boldly state that as a province: We have turned the corner!
Tangible progress has been made to the extent that even in our townships; farms and neighbourhoods we all notice and can testify that the number of AIDS-related deaths has declined.
Our Healthcare workers especially the nurses and Community Care Givers can be commended for having played a crucial role in ensuring an increase of the life expectancy of our citizens.
It was thus befitting that our term as a 2014 administration started with the commemoration of the 104th International Nurses Day under the theme: Nurses, a force for change. We held this event at Addington Hospital at the beginning of June.
Indeed the commemoration presented us with an opportunity to impress upon the Nursing fraternity that they are the backbone of our country’s health system. It also gave us a platform to thank them for the pivotal role they play in the management of HIV and TB; maternal and child health as well as all the ailments that revisit our populace.
Amongst us here today is our special guest; a 31 year old nurse, serving at Northdale Hospital, whom we consider as one classical nurse who truly adheres to her Nurse’s Pledge; “to serve humanity and to practise her profession with conscience and with dignity.”
Madam Speaker; Nonhlanhla Fortunate Dladla was just going about her duties when she came across a sum of R45 500 by a patient. Instead of living up to her names and keeping the money, she decided to follow her conscience and she reported the money to hospital security who then reported it to hospital management. The hospital then made contact with the patient’s family, and the money was handed over to them. Although we have already handed her a certificate for her diligence and honesty, I wish to once again applaud her for her exemplary deed. Malibongwe!
Full speech [PDF]
