Keynote address by the Gauteng MEC for Health, Mr Hope Papo, MPL at the opening of the Leratong Hospital Maternity and Neo-Natal Wards
Leratong Hospital, Kagiso
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Health in Mogale City, Clr Emily Mathe;
Local Councillors present;
Members of Leratong Hospital Board;
Executive Director of South African Medical and Education Foundation, Ms Dianne Pols;
Chief Executive Officer, Senior Managers and all categories of staff of Leratong Hospital;
Ladies and gentlemen.
As the ANC government we have always prioritized maternal and child health. That is why the first policy statement that was pronounced by former President Nelson Mandela soon after assuming office pertained to extension of free health care to pregnant mothers and children under the age of six.
This was an unequivocal commitment to attaining the health related Millennium Development Goals numbers four, five and six which speak to reduction of child and infant mortality and improvement of maternal health and universal access to family planning and combating HIV and AIDS reducing burden of disease from TB.
We have actually gone further than that, since 2002 the ANC has adopted conference resolutions which commit government to reduction of child and infant mortality and improving maternal health.
It is widely accepted that any health system worth its salt is measured on services it provides to pregnant women and children. Most of you will recall that pregnancy and childbirth were regarded as natural phenomena. The burden of disease has altered this.
Conditions which affect pregnant women impact on giving birth. That is why reducing maternal and child mortality remains a key priority for the Gauteng Department of Health.
South Africa is classified as a developing country, but is still straddled with the binary extremes of opulence and poverty.
Hence we have formulated and continue to implement policies that seek to address and improve the health status of women and children while being mindful of these binary extremes.
We are also aware of the fact that some contributory factors to increased maternal and infant mortality cannot be traced directly to the health sector. Social determinants of health such as poverty also contribute to maternal and infant mortality ratios.
We are none the less cognisant of our responsibility as custodians of health services to ensure that those problems that are within our control are addressed. That is why we regard expenditure on maternal and child health as an investment that has positive long term consequences not only for the health system but for society as a whole.
It is therefore no co-incidence that today we are gathered to open the maternity and neo-natal wards to the value of R8 million at this hospital. Today’s occasion is a far cry from the conditions under which neonates had to share cribs and thus increase chances of cross-infection. The Neonatal Ward used to be overcrowded. Insufficient space also meant that mothers could not bond with their babies.
That is now history as the recently upgraded neonatal ward is also equipped with essential equipment including cot beds. It now has 22 cubicles which can accommodate up to 54 babies.
Most of you will also recall that in the old maternity ward, pregnant mothers used to be accommodated in very dilapidated conditions that had only four delivery beds.
The renovated maternity ward has not only brought a new, friendly environment with an increased number of beds to nine, but it has also improved patient care with installation of essential modern equipment. This equipment includes cardio-tochography (foetal monitoring) machines, Dinamaps, Cardiac Monitors, Emergency trollies, transport incubators and wheelchairs.
I have no doubt that staff morale in these wards will improve, and anxiety about the health of neonates and maternity patients will be reduced.
While it remains our responsibility to equip our maternity and neonatal wards with essential modern equipment, we must always keep it at the back of our minds that childbirth is a culmination of a continuum of care which should have begun as soon as a woman becomes aware of her pregnancy.
We therefore need to re-examine the conventional definition of maternal health wherein it begins with pregnancy, proceeds to child birth and ends in post natal care. I suggest that the period before pregnancy and before a decision to fall pregnant or not should be taken into account.
I raise this because the health status of a woman before she falls pregnant is inextricably linked to the health status she will likely enjoy during the course of her pregnancy and even beyond.
Working together with the West Rand Health District (as a cluster), we must strive to increase the number of women who attend antenatal care services at our clinics as early as the fourteenth week of pregnancy. Attendance of antenatal care clinics will ensure that conditions such as hypertension and HIV are detected early and managed appropriately.
The latest statistics tell us that the percentage of women who attend antenatal care services before 20 weeks of pregnancy improved from 24.7 in 2009 to 44.7% in quarter three of the current financial year.
We acknowledge that high levels of in-migration into our province and an increasing number of women who migrate into our country solely for the purposes of giving birth make it difficult for us to reach the desired target of early booking by the fourteenth week of pregnancy.
In spite of these challenges we should strive to enlist more pregnant women for early bookings. It is unfair to expect our health professionals to perform miracles on pregnant women who rock up at our hospitals only when they are about to give birth.
Program Director,
We accept that maternal and child mortality rates remain unacceptably high, especially for Gauteng where 97% of the population resides within 5 kilometre radius to a health facility. We can still do better.
Since the beginning of the current term of office in 2009, we have reduced the rate of babies who die within six weeks of being born from 32 per 100 000 to 30 per 100 000 in 2013.
We have also reduced the rate of women who die while giving birth from 167, 7 per 100 000 in 2007 to 145 per 100 000 in 2010, according to the Saving Mothers Tri-ennial Report.
We hope that 20 dedicated Obstetric Ambulances that we put on our roads in December 2013 will further contribute to the reduction of women who die while giving birth.
Program Director,
We have some of the best facilities with the best and modern equipment. This puts us in a better position to improve on the current maternal health outcomes. We also have the highest concentration of experts who can put their expertise to optimal use for the same good.
We therefore need to continue with continuous professional development for both nurses and doctors; bringing in new evidence based-training for evidence-based health care delivery strategies.
Before I take my seat I want to commend the 32 nurses, three of whom are Specialists (Neonatal Nurses) who work in the neonatal ward, two Medical Specialists and 11 Medical Officers who work in the Paediatric Department, the 2 Medical Specialists and 12 Medical Officers, and 30 nurses, 5 of whom are Specialists (Advanced Midwives) who work in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department.
Your combined efforts and dedication ensured that 7 328 babies were delivered in this hospital in the 2012/13 financial year.
Gauteng province cares: "No woman should die while giving life!"
