Department of Health and Children

South Africa faces the most intricate human resource challenges characteristic of health systems in many other countries. Ensuring an adequate human resource pool for the staffing of especially the public health sector is a major task that is complicated by many global and disease burden challenges. Even though the private health sector is not experiencing the same pressures to the same degree, maldistribution within this sector is a serious challenge. Developing a human resource plan for health is very high on the agenda of the National Department of Health. It is globally recognized that a focused human resource strategy backed up by an appropriate implementation plan is a critical ingredient of positive change in health care. Success in this area helps create a positive image and an environment conducive for health care to flourish. Equity, efficiency and effectiveness of the health system depend on the two elements a visionary strategy and a focused plan being appropriately developed and implemented.

To establish the Interim Traditional Health Practitioners Council of South Africa to provide for a regulatory framework to ensure the efficacy, safety and quality of traditional health care services to provide for the management and control over the registration, training and conduct of practitioners, students and specified categories in the traditional health practitioners profession and to provide for matters connected therewith.