Friday, 06 January 2012

Health MEC outlines year’s challenges

KZN Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo visited Stanger Hospital on Sunday to congratulate the mothers of babies born on New Year’s Day

‘The new year will be groundbreaking in that we will be introducing the long awaited National Health Insurance (NHI).’ This is according to KZN Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo as he outlined the Health Department’s 2012 plans during his visit to Stanger Hospital on Sunday where he welcomed the New Year’s babies. To reach this goal the MEC said their priorities are to ensure that they fast-track infrastructure development and hospital revitalisation projects; districts have social mobilisation and communication plans in place to popularise the NHI at community levels; scale up the ‘Make Me Look like a Hospital’ project in all hospitals and not only those where the NHI would be piloted; and fast-track the strengthening of hospital management programme.

‘We live in a province where the burden of various diseases is most pronounced. ‘We will continue to focus on programmes that seek to change this unfortunate situation.’ The NHI programme is expected to cost R128-billion in its first year, increasing to R376-billion by 2025. Implementation will be phased in over 14 years and rolled out this year in the seriously under-served areas where people have difficulty accessing health care.

The MEC concluded by calling on all healthcare workers to join him ‘on a journey of reaffirmation, remembrance, reform and revitalisation’. ‘As we begin the new year, let us be reminded that we need sufficiently skilled, professional, motivated and well-supported healthcare workers who are the bedrock of a healthy nation. ‘Let us therefore work together for a long and healthy life for all South Africans.’