on the occasion of the 2007/08 Budget Vote of the Department of Health
24 May 2007
Madam Speaker
Honourable Premier
Honourable members
Ladies and gentlemen
It is an honour for me to address the Provincial Legislature on the occasion
of the consideration of the 2007/08 Budget Vote of the Department of Health as
tabled today by the Portfolio Committee for Health. I want to thank the
Honourable Members of the Portfolio Committee for Health for their critical
consideration of the department's Budget Vote in conjunction with my Policy
Speech as Member of the Executive for Health, the department's strategic plan
and the Costed Action Plans for each Programme to be implemented by the
department during the 2007/08 financial year.
Honourable members, the Department of Health has committed itself to provide
a health service to the people of the Eastern Cape Province which is designed
to promote a better quality of life for all our people. The department is
further committed to providing and ensuring accessible comprehensive integrated
services in the Eastern Cape, emphasising the primary Healthcare approach,
utilizing and developing all resources to enable all its present and future
generations to enjoy health and quality of life. The mandate of the department
is to provide preventative, curative, and rehabilitative health services within
a developmental context.
Honourable members, in this financial year, we have set ourselves the
following priority tasks among others:
* To build the platform for a strong district health system and to strengthen
primary healthcare
* infrastructure and development
*to build health facilities that our people can be proud of
To this effect, I am happy to announce Honourable Speaker that the
department's plans to completely upgrade and redevelop the Cecilia Makiwane
Hospital are at an advanced stage. Honourable members, Madam Speaker, will
agree that there development of this hospital has been overdue. To continuously
ensure that health services are accessible and available to all and are of the
highest quality possible. To that effect, centres of excellence have been
identified to be developed over this financial year and beyond. Furthermore, an
additional 11 clinics will be opened on the 30 May 2007 in Cofimvaba. This
addition, including other clinics currently under construction, as well as the
expansion of community health centres will ensure that over time, all
communities can access primary healthcare services close to them.
Emergency Medical Services
To strengthen and modernise Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the department
has introduced a Diploma Course as an Emergency Care Technician provided at the
Metro EMS Training Centre which is accredited with the Health Professions
Council. To date 24 students started on the 1st April 2007 and the next group
will start on the 1st October 2007.
Primary Healthcare
To improve access to and availability of drugs and medicines in all our
clinics and health centres.
Human Resources
To reduce our unacceptably high vacancy rates by aggressively recruiting an
additional 5 000 employees over the next three years. In particular, we will
focus our attention on strengthening our retention strategies, to complement
our efforts to recruit such scarce skills as paramedics and other
specialists.
Tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS
To work with our communities in reducing and stopping new infections on HIV
and TB, providing treatment to those that need it, including nutritional
support, strengthening our management of Multi Drug Resistant (MDR)and Extreme
Drug Resistant (XDR) TB, reducing maternal deaths and infant mortality. We have
to work even harder as the department and with our sister departments and with
municipalities to ensure that we improve the health of the people of our
province.
Core functions of the department
Honourable members, the department has begun a process of developing a long
term plan for the transformation of health services in the province. The
Executive Council must still pronounce on this proposed plan to give direction.
As the department, we will be guided by that direction that the executive will
give us, whilst we continue with ensuring that our mandate to make health
services better is carried out. Whereas the Portfolio Committee for Health has
recommended that the department must ensure that the Service Transformation
Plan is not implemented until all stakeholders including the committee are
taken on board and have a buy-in. I want to again assure the House that the
department will be guided by the pronouncement by the executive committee on
this Plan.
Madam Speaker, the department is on course to complete the provincialisation
process. We will continue to interact and engage stakeholders that are affected
and those interested so that this process is completed within the set
timeframes. Our engagement with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality
will be guided by the strategic goals of ensuring access, equity and quality of
health within an integrated provincial health system. It remains our
responsibility also to ensure that there is no fragmentation of health services
hence the need to speed up provincialisation.
Honourable members, in response to the committee's recommendation that the
department must ensure that all communities have access to Primary Healthcare
Services, let me inform the house that the department is required by the
Constitution and the National Health Act to progressively ensure access to
health services, including Primary Healthcare. The department is committed to
implementing an effective service delivery platform through the District Health
System based on the Primary Healthcare approach. To realize this goal, the
Department is currently focusing on strengthening and building capacity for the
effective implementation of the priority health programmes. This will improve
health outcomes and strengthen the district health system, which is based on
the Freedom Charter, that free medical care and hospitalisation shall be
provided for, with special care for mothers and young children.
In conclusion, I once again express my deep gratitude to the honourable
members of the Portfolio Committee for Health for their critical consideration
of the department's Budget Vote and the constructive direction which they have
continued to provide to the Department of Health in its quest to provide a
health service to the people of the Eastern Cape Province which is designed to
promote a better quality of life for all our people.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Eastern Cape Province
24 May 2007
Source: Eastern Cape Province (http://www.ecpg.gov.za)
