Date: 03/05/2007

Source: Gauteng Provincial Government

Title: Hlongwa: Quality Healthcare for All Campaign

Speech by Gauteng Health MEC Brian Hlongwa at the launch of the Quality Healthcare for All Campaign, Gallagher Estate, Midrand

Programme director
Distinguished guests

Today we are going to talk about health and what you can do as an individual to improve the quality of your life.

Your health is the single most important issue in your life. Take away your health and all these other things that are precious to you suddenly disappear. Your family, your marriage, your friends, your job, your social life, your church activities, your sport; all of these things that make life worthwhile can not be enjoyed the moment your health starts to deteriorate.

Sadly, in many instances we only think about our health when we are hit by illness or disease. Only then do we visit a doctor or a hospital or ask for medicine from a pharmacy. When there is nothing wrong with us, we take our health for granted.

Today we are launching a campaign to make people aware of their own health and of the need to lead a healthy lifestyle. We want to talk about practical things that each and every one of us can do to improve our health within our own situation - where we live, where we work, where we socialise and where we relax.

In the past year as MEC for Health, I have visited most of the hospitals and health facilities in our province. I have spoken to doctors and other health professionals but also to patients waiting to be attended to or to receive treatment.

I am not a medical doctor, but I returned from each visit with one overwhelming impression, the majority of people that I met and spoke to at Gauteng health facilities suffer from conditions that can be prevented through healthy lifestyles and prevention at an early age.

I am talking about certain heart conditions and lung conditions. I am talking about obesity or bad eating habits. I am talking about lack of exercise. I am talking about smoking and the abuse of alcohol and other harmful substances. I am talking about dangerous sexual practices.

I believe that up to 75% of patients that arrive at Gauteng health facilities suffer from illnesses that could have been prevented through regular exercise, better eating habits, stress management, cutting out smoking, reducing alcohol consumption and responsible sexual behaviour.

Programme director,

If we can eliminate these factors we will bring about a revolution in healthcare in Gauteng and eventually throughout South Africa.

Unfortunately there is a perception that healthy living and healthy lifestyles are only available to the rich and the affluent. Rich people go to gyms or jog in the streets. Wealthy people can manage their stress or visit a psychologist. The people of Sandton and Diepkloof Extension have control over their lives and can afford a lifestyle with balanced diets and plenty of relaxation.

There is a view that if you live in Tembisa or in Alexandra you do not have control over your own life. You worry whether there is any food on the table tonight not whether it is good or nutritional. Alcohol and cigarettes are often the only pleasures you have left to get you through the day.

This campaign is to address exactly these issues. We want to say to the people of Daveyton and Atteridgeville and Eldorado Park you can take charge of your own health. To the people in the townships, the informal settlements and the urban flatlands you too can change your lifestyle.

Healthy lifestyles are there for all to enjoy. It is one of your basic human rights as a South African citizen. But it is a right that requires responsibility from your side before you can make it your own.

Programme director,

Shortly after my appointment I stated very clearly that I am the MEC for Health in the province of Gauteng not the MEC for Illness. In the coming days the department will start moving through every township and suburb in our province to meet with you and to conduct a census of the health status in every household.

Through this we will get a clear picture of the state of health in our province. We will also know whether the many health programmes we offer are reaching the communities they are intended for. Are we doing enough for expectant mothers? Are we making the necessary impact with our TB and HIV-Aids programmes? Is our immunisation programme for infants and young children working?

In this regard, I want to remind you that next week is devoted to our Mass Polio and Measles campaign. I want to call on all parents to take their children of five years and below to our facilities for them to be immunised for polio and measles as part of the Government's programme of free basic healthcare for all.

Ladies and gentlemen,

For our healthy living campaign we will use trained community health workers, I call them an "army" of volunteers. Men and women drawn from your own community, not brought in from the outside. People who know you and who understand your environment and your living conditions.

These community health workers will be thoroughly trained and able to make an initial assessment of the health status of individual households. The reports they provide will be analysed by experts in the department to determine health trends and implement the required corrective steps.

But they will also provide you with basic information on how you as an individual can take charge of your health status. Information such as:

* How can you do basic exercises in your home that will help improve your fitness, control your weight and improve the quality of your life?
* How can you stop smoking and reduce the risk of future lung and heart diseases?
* How can you reduce your alcohol consumption or eliminate your dependence on drugs and harmful substances?
* How can you reduce your levels of stress?
* How can you eat healthier and spend your money on food that is nutritious and good for your health?
* How can you practice safe sex and cut down the risk of falling prey to all kinds of strange diseases?

Through this campaign we want to reach every person in every household in Gauteng and we will show them easy and very practical ways in which they can change their lifestyles around and improve their health.

There will be specific programmes looking at the needs of women, of infants and young children, of the youth, the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed and the workers. We want to tell them what they can do with the resources available to them.

Programme director,

In the coming weeks we will also hold discussions with a wide variety of stakeholders and potential partners in this campaign. We will talk to the fitness industry and the gym owners to see how they can help us bring exercise equipment and other facilities within easy reach of township communities. We will speak to the wellness industry, to medical schemes, the private health sector, traditional healers and the various professional bodies, to determine what contributions they can bring to the table.

We will talk to your public representatives, to members of Parliament and the provincial legislature, to Mayoral committee members and elected councillors to discuss the role that they can play in this campaign. We are privileged to have so many Mayors, members of Parliament and the legislature as well as councillors with us today and we want to thank them in advance for their support.

We will speak to community leaders, to church leaders, to school principals and to sports administrators. Each one of you has expertise and knowledge in a specific field and we believe that you will make a valuable contribution to mobilise our communities in support of healthy living.

We will strengthen the capacity at ward committee level to enable community representatives to lead from the front and to spread the message of healthy living into each and every household.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Healthy Living campaign does not mean that our department will lose its focus on the delivery of quality healthcare services to the people of Gauteng. Of course, we will continue with all the services that are available at our hospitals, our clinics and other medical facilities.

Obviously there are still large numbers of patients that will continue to require specialised treatment or dedicated drugs. Nothing has changed as far as these services are concerned and we will continue with this as part of our mandate to develop healthy, skilled and productive people and to create a better life for all in Gauteng.

What we are trying to achieve is to change the direction slightly towards healthy living as a precondition for a better life. We want to turn the system upside down and look at those factors that can contribute to a better lifestyle rather than wait for patients to arrive at our facilities for treatment.

We acknowledge that there is still a long way to go before we can proudly say all our clients are satisfied with the service they get at our facilities. I can, however, say that we are already implementing programmes to address the many challenges we face.

During this financial year we are to increase the number of community healthcare workers, the people that will be in the frontline of the healthy living campaign. We are currently designing systems to ensure that people suffering from controlled chronic illnesses are assisted faster, as in many cases they visit our facilities only to collect medication. We want them to be able to go straight to the pharmacy instead of waiting in long queues.

Very soon we will have a system where community health workers will be able to collect medication on behalf of senior citizens or disabled persons.

We are committing ourselves to treating all our patients with dignity and respect, and to attend to their needs promptly. Here we are talking about, for example, issues of clean linen, washing babies and those adults unable to wash themselves due to illness.

Today we will publicly sign a Health Charter which commits the department and all health facilities in Gauteng to provide quality healthcare and treat patients with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Our facilities are run by Boards and Community Health Committees. Communities must be aware that these bodies are responsible for constant interaction between the community and the institutions.

There is also a toll free number that any unhappy client can call to report a case. I guarantee you that your concern will be addressed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am confident that we can achieve these objectives. Exactly a week ago we as a nation celebrated our victory over apartheid and colonialism. On 27 April we looked back to that day in 1994 when each and every South African received the power to change this country and to determine the future direction that we as a nation would follow.

After 13 years of freedom and democracy there are new challenges that we are facing. One of these challenges is to look after the health of our nation and especially that of the generations that will follow.

We have the power to take charge of our own lives, our own health status and to influence our environment and our communities. I have no doubt that the people of Gauteng will again be able to live up to this challenge.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
3 May 2007