"Every time I come to this hospital I feel proud as an MEC," said Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal during the official opening of a Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Unit at Dundee Hospital today.
Dundee Hospital is one hospital in KwaZulu-Natal that has declared that no woman will die during pregnancy or at child birth. In the past two years (2009/10 and 2010/11) the hospital has recorded only two deaths. The two cases last year (2010) were transferred cases that did not attend clinic at the hospital during their pregnancies. They subsequently passed on because of undisclosed pre-existing conditions.
The MEC was at Dundee Hospital on the World Health Day to officially open the PMTCT unit as well a clinic in the nearby Wasbank Township. On the World Health Day, the MEC said; “To us this day is devoted to the men and women who continue to serve our people under conditions that are not favourable at times. We wish to emphasise that healthcare workers – the people who provide health care to those who need it – are at the heart of our health system."
The MEC thanked the hard work that has put the hospital as one of the best performing hospital with regards to maternal outcomes. He said the World Health Day provides an opportunity for health professionals to renew their vows they made when they joined their respective professions. “It is also an opportunity to reconnect with the communities we solemnly vowed to serve at all times,” said MEC Dhlomo.
The message to all healthcare workers on their day, he said, is loud and very clear.Unless health workers there is concerted efforts in addressing the four key burdens of diseases (i.e. HIV & TB, maternal and child morbidity and mortality, the scourge of chronic diseases of lifestyle as well as trauma and violence); the gains that have been made over the years would be reversed said MEC Dhlomo.
The MEC thanked the staff at Dundee Hospital and health workers everywhere for their dedication to the call. Indeed, health workers are committed to ensuring that they respond to the health needs of communities. He challenged all health workers, especially midwives, in KwaZulu-Natal to also adopt a zero tolerance to maternal deaths in all clinics and hospitals.
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Enquiries:
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