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Opening of a clinicat Zingcuka Village
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Health

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EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

ADDRESS BY THE  MEC FOR HEALTH DR. B. GOQWANA

TO THE EVENT TO MARK THE OPENING OF THE CLINIC

AT ZINGCUKA VILLAGE-TSOLO

ON 1 OCTOBER 1999.

Master of Ceremonies:
 Rev. Mabho
 Chief Mditshwa
 Dr Mpehle
 The Medical Superintendent
 Distinguished Guests
 Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is most fulfilling to be gracing this event in this the cause to deliver on our pre-election promises. We spoke before the 1994 and the 
1999 elections of the unwavering commitment we have to deliver essential services to all the people of our country. Comrades, I think we 
are on the right track and the feeling is wonderful.

In South Africa previously we were given an impression that the only way to deliver health services is through secondary health care. This 
meant that basic essentials especially for the underprivileged was not taken care of as the design was based to the needs of the chosen 
few.

The government has, ever since, taken a stand with a clear departure emphasising the promotion and use of Primary Health Care. This is 
being realised via the District Health System as to the centralisation we have at the moment at Head Offices in Bisho and other far away 
places from the patient or recipients of Health Care Services. The District Health System is still in its relative infancy but we are 
already reaping its rewards with closer facilitation and proper referral system.

The essential or ideal goal of our Health vision is to provide a fully manned and equipped clinic or health institution for every 9 000 to 
10 000 citizens. Our people must also not travel more than five kilometres to a place of health service. The clinics we talk about here are 
a marked departure from the past era particularly in the rural areas where clinics were only white elephants capable of providing only 
basic services, if the community was fortunate enough. The clinics in this instance will be equipped with a telephone, electricity and 
water as well as all the necessary life saving medications and equipment.

We strive for a society divorced from illnesses based or derived from malnutrition or infections because these are based on poverty. We 
cannot serve to treat illnesses whilst not addressing the basic problem. That would be tantamount to clearing the upper part of a structure 
whilst leaving the bottom or foundation untouched. The solution in this case therefore is simply the alleviation or complete eradication of 
poverty and all associated with it. Peoples health is not only a responsibility of the hospitals but for the home setting as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen: It is very concerning to note that there is general perception or assumption that health service is not sufficient 
without the doctor seeing the patient. In Primary Health we seek to exactly undo that. Gone are those days when a nurse was looked down 
upon as an assistant or someone to help a doctor. We should take upon ourselves to realise that, in some instances, nurses can provide a 
better or even more thorough a service to the patient.

Master of Ceremonies, Let me take this opportunity to talk about the importance of the service that is provided by the nurses in the health 
services. We should always salute and appreciate the nurses for being the backbone of our Health Services, Clinics and Hospitals. Without 
their unreserved and undoubted dedication we would still be talking in medieval language in terms of Health standards. Their efforts and 
commitments shall never be in vain.

We are taking their plight, especially as far as their salary levels, very seriously and are concerned about their exodus to the so-called 
greener pastures in the private sector and abroad. This lowers our standards because we lose the cream of our crop in the process which 
also happens to be our most sacred pride. We are already working on incentives and other means in our proficiency to stem that.

There is an old adage that the nurses place is next to the patient. We very much still believe in that. These patients, however, are not 
just in urban but also in rural settings in remote areas of our country. Incentives and other measures are still to be availed to draw 
Health professionals into these areas. In addition to that, Nurses are going to be evaluated and remunerated accordingly.

We plead with the Nursing fraternity therefore, to be extremely responsible and committed to the BATO PELE notion on Public Service 
Delivery and Accountability. If that is realised I promise that we will always stand by their cause and fight for what is rightfully 
theirs.

On a different note the resilience of the Primary Health Care and the Health Services generally shall be tested, in the few years to come 
like never before. This, as you all know, shall be the case with the advent of the HIV virus and AIDS. The two will wreck havoc by killing 
thousands of our people to a magnitude or size never heard of before.

Our hospital admission figures are already influenced by this disease with figures of up to twenty percent of all hospital admissions 
attributed to this disease. The picture out there is extremely gloomy especially for the ages between eighteen to twenty five. The facts 
speak for themselves, this disease is doubling almost every fourteen months and there is, unfortunately, no sign of it slowing down.

Aids can still be fought and won. This can be realised with safer sex practices, more awareness and responsible behaviour. We should 
progress from being ignorant, complaisant and uninformed to an example by our determined resolve to overcome the affliction of this virus.

I take this opportunity to call on you comrades, ladies and gentlemen, to hold steadfastly by uniting against this threat to our well-being 
and never despair. It is our people with HIV/AIDS and such should not be perceived as a load but a formidable task.

In conclusion, I want to add that we have faced the Apartheid enemy against impossible odds and won. It is in the same light that we should 
contain the spread of Aids. The same should be said of our determination to strive towards transforming and doing away with all that was 
established to be an obstacle to our development.

We shall do away with all that was meant to hamper our development at all fronts in the name of people empowerment. This will be embodied 
in the spirit of transformation as is policy of this, our ANC government. With those words let me re-emphasise that we, as the servants 
that you voted into office, shall do our utmost to ensure that your aspirations, development and visions shall be realised and today is 
just the beginning.

AMANDLA

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