CEO of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC): Dr Shisana
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Country Representative: Ms Aida Girma
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) South Africa Country Director: Dr Thurma Goldman
Researchers representing different research councils and academic institutions
Representatives from government departments
Members of civil society and the media
Distinguished guests
This year, 2010, marks the second year of implementation of our Ten Point Program aimed at transforming the health sector into a well functioning system that is capable of producing improved health outcomes for all South Africans. All the ten points are critical to achieve our goal. Today I will focus on the three areas: HIV/AIDS, attaining a better health and research and development. This study connects with each of these.
Our health system faces challenges that impact negatively on the health of our people. We have high rates of maternal and child mortality, and we face many challenges as a product of the high levels of HIV and AIDS. Life expectancy has declined and is now estimated at 57 years for females and 53 years for males (StatsSA, 2009). This is a concern for all of us. It means we need to do more to ensure that our health system is able to deliver accessible high quality health care and intensify our efforts to ensure better health and longer life spans for our people.
The study we are launching today provides us with a picture of the health of our children 0-18 years. The report highlights the responsibilities and challenges we face in nurturing our children through to productive adult life.
The study covers a range of priority areas, such as maternal and child health, immunisation levels, healthcare utilisation and HIV.
As a department we are encouraged by the findings of the study. It is noteworthy that there has been a very high level of uptake of antenatal services, with a level of 97% being attained. Among our key policy priorities for the health sector for the coming period is increasing the percentage of pregnant women who book for antenatal care before 20 weeks gestation. This study estimated that 46% of women fall into this category. We need to increase this figure and have more women accessing antenatal care early on in their pregnancies. We remain committed to providing high quality antenatal services, and are prioritising maternal and child care including monitoring systems that focus on addressing maternal mortality and perinatal deaths.
We are pleased to note that more than 95% of pregnant women were offered an HIV test, and this aligns well with the HIV Counselling and Testing campaign that we have just launched through the South African National AIDS Council.
High uptake of HIV testing by of pregnant women will ensure that we will be able to implement the new treatment guidelines and reach more HIV positive pregnant women with the necessary antiretroviral treatment. We are already reaping the benefits of our policies in this regard. HIV among children under two years of age is low and this is a sign that our prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme is effective.
While these achievements are commendable, it is also important to take stock of areas where we still need to make progress for the health of our children - especially immunisation and infant feeding practices that are so important in the survival of babies. We should also not only focus on HIV and AIDS and ignore other childhood diseases. The report points out areas of great concern such low immunisation rates for many diseases. I am pleased to say that during the month of April, my department launched a national Measles and Polio Vaccination Campaign that runs through to the 28th of May this year. The target is to vaccinate 15 million children between the ages of six months and 15 years against measles, and to vaccinate five million children under five against polio. This study gives us an excellent statistics that we can use to measure our success in the future.
Another area of concern is poor infant feeding practices that include high levels of mixed feeding by mothers. This requires urgent attention, and the study findings will allow us to review and revise some of our policies and programmes to minimise health risks to children.
These are some of the many important findings of this study. As I conclude, I wish to highlight the findings on the perceived health status of children. The study found that an overwhelming majority of children aged 2-18 years were perceived to be in excellent or good health. Ten years ago the first democratic government adopted primary health care as the foundation for our health service delivery system it is therefore encouraging to observe that the majority of children are accessing primary health care in public health outpatient clinics.
The information contained in this report as well as the first report that includes information on the health of youth and adults comes at a critical point to address research and development, which is point 10 in our programme. In recent years we have recognised that interventions or programs, plans, practice and policies should be evidence-based - especially in government. Secondly, a research agenda that includes a focus on maternal and child health ensures that we can make inputs into policy as necessary, and that our strategies and interventions are sophisticated and measurable. This is the value of research, and we should not shy away from research findings, even if they highlight shortcomings and challenges.
This report will also make an important contribution to the midterm review of our National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections for 2007-2011. More importantly, both reports present indicators for possible inclusion in both the United Nations General Assembly Special session (HIV/AIDS) (UNGASS) Declaration of commitment national report (2001) and the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report to which our government and people have committed themselves.
In conclusion we would like to thank the HSRC, the MRC and CADRE who have collaborated together with staff from US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to produce this excellent report. We also appreciate the financial resources provided by both the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the CDC and UNICEF to this study.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Health
13 May 2010
