South Africa

President Jacob Zuma will take almost half his cabinet to Limpopo this week to monitor and evaluate the provincial government’s progress in delivering health services.

National health spokeswoman Zanele Mngadi yesterday confirmed that Zuma would visit Siloam Hospital in Thohoyandou and Lebowakgomo Hospital in Lebowakgomo outside Polokwane on Thursday.

“The president and his delegation are expected to interact with key roleplayers in the health sector, including patients, medical and traditional practitioners, and senior management, to see how the province has strengthened health system effectiveness,” Mngadi said.

Mngadi said Zuma would be accompanied by performance monitoring and evaluation minister Collins Chabane and his deputy, Dina Pule.

Other delegates include finance minister Pravin Gordhan, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi and his deputy Gwen Ramokgopa, Public works minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde and social development minister Bathabile Dlamini.

“Among others, they are expected to look at maternal and child mortality rates, combating HIV/Aids and decreasing the burden of diseases like tuberculosis,” said Mngadi.

She said this visit was in line with national efforts to revamp the public health system through the implementation of the re-engineered Primary Health Care model.

Mngadi said six other hospitals and clinics in the province would also be evaluated. – AENS

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The NCOP is a unique legislative body, as it is composed of delegates from South Africa's nine provincial legislatures, and has representation from organised local government.

Groote Schuur Hospital is one of the major teaching hospitals of the Associated Academic Hospitals' group. These hospitals are integral components of the Health Service of the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape. The main functions of the hospital are to provide patient care(especially at tertiary and higher levels), teaching and research.

Information about all aspects of this conference to be held in Durban, South Africa in July

The meeting is open to all with an interest in Public Health The development of the District Health System is potentially the most important issue in health in SA at present. Title: The District Health System - the Way Forward Program 13:30 Welcome 13:35 Setting the Scene - Bennett Asia (Dept of Health) 13:45 Capacity building for the DHS - David Sanders (UWC) 14:05 Legal Framework - R Mabope (Dept of Health) 14:25 Financing - Mark Blecher (Treasury, Dept of Finance) 14:45 Tea/Coffee 15:15 Local government perspective - Ivan Toms (City of Cape Town) 15:30 Info systems - Hassan Mahomed (City of Cape Town) 15:50 Barriers to making it work - Beth Engelbrecht (PAWC) 16:10 Discussion 16:45 Closure Venue: Upper Path Lecture Theatre, Werner Beit Building, UCT Medical School, Anzio Road, Observatory Date: Wednesday 27 November 2002 Time: 1:30 - 4:45 p.m. The Public Health Forum is jointly hosted by the Dept of Public Health and Primary Health Care, UCT, the Dept of Community Health, Stellenbosch, the Public Health Programme, UWC, Department of Community Health, Cape Technikon and the City Health Directorate of the City of Cape Town. All sessions are CPD points accredited.

The Health Systems Trust (HST) released its latest edition of the District Health Barometer on the 6th of July at the HISA conference, Emperors Palace, Gauteng. The publication illustrates important aspects of the health system at district level through the analysis of a selected range of health indicators from which comparisons among districts and provinces can be made. Data feeding into the report are drawn from a range of sources including the national Department of Health, Statistics SA, the TB register and the national Treasury. It is the only publication of its kind in South Africa that makes available comparative data for the purpose of measuring and tracking progress in primary health care at the district level.

The BCP project is a PEPFAR funded joint venture between SA Partners and Africare. The project promotes early recruitment and retention of newly diagnosed PLWHA into care and support programs. The project will finalize a BCP national curriculum and establish BCP support groups in the Eastern Cape that provide information and support to newly diagnosed individuals at health facilities and within communities.

The challenge facing the South African health system is to be part of a comprehensive programme to redress social and econoniic injustices, and to ensure that emphasis Is placed on health and not just on medical care.

It is important that policies and strategies towards equity in service provision are measured in terms of their impact on health service delivery. This would begin to demonstrate the practical impact of health reform. In an attempt to measure in part the progress (or lack of progress) towards equity one step would be to measure in part the quality of service provision at the community (primary care) level. This would give an overview of the disparities between as well as in provinces, and between rural, urban and peri-urban parts of the country.