Cutbacks for Gauteng, Western Cape hospitals

Funding for specialised or tertiary medical facilities is to be cut back in Gauteng and the Western Cape, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Tuesday.

She told a media briefing at Parliament that the provinces were receiving 73 percent of national funds available for tertiary care, but delivering only 56 percent of these services.

Other provinces were offering substantial tertiary care with little assistance from national coffers, and draining resources intended for more basic healthcare.

She said a new redistributive formula would be introduced in the 2002/3 financial year, and that the excess allocation to the two provinces would be reduced gradually to avoid disruption.

The new formula should not affect the volume or range of tertiary services in those provinces.

She also said the percentage of children who were fully immunised now stood at 73 percent after hovering for years around the 63 percent mark.

This was partly due to the adoption of an internationally-proven model for the integrated management of childhood illnesses.

To reach the target of 90 percent by 2004, efforts would be concentrated on districts that were not doing well, particularly in the Eastern Cape and Northern Province.

Source: SAPA, 12 February 2002