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Launch of Patient's Rights Charter in Bisho
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 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
 SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF HEALTH DR MANTOMBAZANA TSHABALALA-MSIMANG
AT THE LAUNCH OF THE PATIENTS RIGHTS CHARTER IN BISHO
ON 29 JANUARY 2001

GREETINGS

I am glad to join today as we launch the Patients Rights Charter  a document that is a milestone in our quest for improving the quality 
of health care in our country.

Years of colonialism and apartheid in this country dehumanised the majority of our people, denied them basic human rights including right 
to health care and subjected many of them to a gross violation of these rights.

When we adopted our Constitution in 1996, we committed ourselves as South African to burying the divisions of the past and pledged to unite 
ourselves into a nation that respects human rights and the dignity of all the people who live in this country.

On top of the Bill of Rights that is included in our Constitution to protect the dignity, freedom and well-being of all South Africans, we 
crafted the concept of Batho Pele which puts the interest of our people first in all the services we are rendering.

The Patients Rights Charter provides the true meaning of this concept within the health sector. It contributes towards raising awareness 
amongst both the patients and health workers on patients entitlement to be treated with dignity, to complain, and the right to 
information, to mention but the few of the twelve rights that are included in this Charter.

Much progress has been made since the Charter was launched at a national level in November 1999. With regard to the right to a healthy and 
safe environment as stated in this Charter, we passed the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act. As most of your know, smoking in public 
places has been prohibited as from 1 January this year and we stopping the promotion of tobacco products which encourages unhealthy smoking 
habits especially amongst our youth.

People can now perform their duties at their workplaces without being exposed to the dangers of tobacco smoke. Everyone can enjoy him or 
herself in places of entertainment without being subjected to secondary smoking.

These regulations will not only protect our people from the harm of tobacco smoke but they will also save a lot of resources spent on 
treating patients that are suffering from a number of tobacco related diseases, especially as a result of secondary smoking.

The Charter states that everyone has a right of access to health care services including emergency care, treatment and rehabilitation, 
provisioning for special needs, counselling, palliative care, positive disposition and health information.

Despite all the challenges from certain sectors that are prepared to protect their self-centred interests at all cost, we are forging ahead 
with our efforts to ensure that all our people have a right to affordable treatment as entrenched in this Charter.

While we honour our international trade obligations, we have a duty to provide our people access to affordable treatment. We worked out a 
legal and transparent framework within which we can perform this duty. However, this process is being challenged in court as being 
unlawful. Access to affordable treatment is a duty placed on us by the poor majority of this country. It is a duty that we not only 
prepared to perform but to defend if necessary.

In line with this Charter and together with the Department of Social Development, we are making much progress in developing a home-based 
care programme that will enable us to respond mainly to the effects of HIV/AIDS and ensure that those who are infected and affected by this 
epidemic receive care and support they need.

The Charter places responsibility on our health workers that they be guided by caring ethos in performance of their duties. I do not doubt 
the dedication that exists amongst our health care workers. The way they have performed around the clock responding to the outbreak of 
cholera in this country is just one example which was even noted by the World Health Organisation in its report on the cholera situation in 
KwaZulu-Natal.

However, we still have some elements within our personnel who are not prepared to adapt to the new spirit of putting the interest of our 
people first. Demoralisation within this section of our staff, inefficiencies and other problems facing some of our facilities need to be 
addressed as matter of urgency if we are to meet the expectations of our communities, as stated in this Charter.

Patients and other recipients of health care services also have a responsibility to take care of their health, protect the environment, 
respect the rights of other patients and health care providers, and to comply with prescribed treatment or rehabilitation procedures.

As we move towards decentralizing management of services to focus on improving quality and empowering clinic committees and hospital 
boards, we should encourage the participation of communities and recipients of our services in this process.

Improving service delivery is not a once off event, but a continuous process of setting, meeting and then raising standards over time. It 
is a dynamic process in which the recipients of services are able to bring pressure to bear on the providers to ensure that the customers, 
who are patients, are key in setting of priorities, which should determine both the nature and the level of service to be provided.

The outcome of the greater awareness created by the Charter will be raised expectations of patients, change in the attitudes of health 
workers, and ultimately the strengthening of the important partnership between health workers and patients.

I believe that the Charter we are launching today will stimulate a greater participation by our people in health matters, thereby 
contributing towards deepening of the culture of democracy. It should be viewed by both the patients and health workers as a tool to assist 
in changing our health system into a caring and compassionate health care delivery system which will serve us all with pride.

It is my hope that this Charter will inspire all of us to work in unison towards instilling the culture of respect and caring ethos in 
health care, improving the health of our nation and ensuring a brighter future for our children.

Thank you.

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