BACKGROUND ON SEXWALE VISIT TO HEALTH FACILITIES

Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government 11 March 1996

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE VISIT BY THE PREMIER TO HEALTH FACILITIES IN JAMESON PARK, KWA-THEMA AND MAMELODI EAST

MAMELODI EAST - STANZA BOPAPE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE PROJECT

• Stanza Bopape is the informal settlement that forms part of the greater Mamelodi. Since 1990 the population was increased from 6 000 to 50 000 in 1993, and it is now estimated that about 100 000 people are living in this area. Unemployment is rife.
• The Stanza Bopape Community Health Centre Project has been the result of a partnership between the community of Mamelodi, the CSIR, the University of Pretoria and the Health Department of the Pretoria Metropolitan Substructure. Work on this project started in 1992 with all the participants meeting to establish needs and priorities. The outcome of these meetings was the need not only for the Health Centre, but also for a community Centre including skills training workshops, adult literacy and further education facilities, a creche and nursery school, residential base for Hospice, accommodation for Mamelodi Theatre Organisation and a multi purpose hall.
• The Stanza Community Trust was created to further these objectives and the Community Health Centre was considered as the top priority. A site was obtained from the City Council of Mamelodi and sketch plans were drawn up. Efforts were now made to source funding for the various facilities.
• In September 1995 under the clinic upgrading and building programme, the Stanza Bopape Community Health Centre Project was allocated R800,000-00 for the first phase of the Centre through the City Council of Pretoria. Working drawings were completed and submitted for building approval. Tender documentation was completed and tenders were called for, with the tenders closing on December 8, 1995.
• The Contractor was appointed in February 1996 and started work on site for Phase One which will comprise eleven consulting rooms. It is expected that Phase One will be complete in August 1996.

STANZA BOPAPE FEEDING SCHEME

• The Eyethu feeding scheme funded by the National Nutrition and Social Development Programme (NNSDP) has been involved in Stanza Bopape for several years now. Several organisations are working together to achieve maximum results, but the population is growing too fast for a real impact to be seen.
• Currently food aid through the R370,000 NNSDP allocation reches 4173 beneficiaries in 943 families.
• This is part of the R7 million allocated to 19 444 beneficiaries in the Pretoria region.

JAMESON PARK - BRINKMAN SCHOOL

• The Primary School Nutrition Programme is implemented in identified needy farm and urban schools. The programme initially targeted pupils in farm schools and later this was expanded to children in informal settlements and urban areas.
• Gauteng Province has a school population of approximately 899 000 and 20% of the children are already receiving the early morning high calorie snack. Reports benefits include improved attendance and better concentration on the part of the children.
• The budget for the 95/96 financial year was R26 million of which R11,7 million has been spent to date (due to difficulties in developing an acceptable targeting system in urban schools).

COVERAGE TO DATE

SCHOOLS BENEFICIARIES West Rand 71 15 924 Central Wits 154 29 305 Pretoria 115 49 294 Vaal 66 29 722 East Rand 86 51 670 TOTAL 492 175 915

• A new Community Tender System will be implemented as from April 1996. This system will empower SMME's, Project Committees, NGO's and CBO's with skills to run the PSNP in the most cost effective and efficient way. It is envisaged that 112 000 jobs could be created through the system.
• Information sessions with project committees and schools are scheduled from the 11/3/96 to 15/3/96 to ensure that schools are able to respond to prospective suppliers. Education District Directors and staff will be briefed on the process and co-management will be strengthened at all levels.
• A budget of R46,000,000 is allocated for the PSNP for the 96/97 financial year. The programme will expand to reach 25% of all primary school pupils (approximately 47 000 more children than at present)
• At the Brinkman School which the Premier will be visiting, the programme has resulted in 203 children from surrounding farms to receive a cup of milk and a nutritious sandwich everyday at 8:30 am after walking long distances to school.

KWA THEMA - MIDWIFERY OBSTERIC UNITS (MOUs)

• In keeping with the policy of the Gauteng Provincial Health Department to develop the primary level of care, antenatal, maternity and postnatal services for normal pregnancies should be available in communities, as close as possible to where women live.
• These primary level services will provide accessible and high quality care at low cost to women, as well as taking the load off referral hospitals, thereby permitting the regional and academic hospitals to attend to the complicated cases referred to them.
• Of the 115 000 deliveries performed annually in public health facilities, under 10 000 currently take place at primary level in the 11 existing Midwifery Units.
• Through the RDP funded Clinic Upgrading and Building Programme (CUBP), and through provincial funds, an additional twelve Units are at varying stages of development and several will hopefully start services within weeks. Further units will be opened up in needy areas in the next two years.
• These new Units will be performing up to 30 000 deliveries annually when fully operational and together serving communities of approximately one million people.
• Antenatal and postnatal care are an essential component of care to pregnant women and here too the 400 000 antenatal and 80 000 postnatal visits currently performed in hospitals will be moved out to comprehensive primary care clinics in communities. This will once again improve access in a cost-effective manner, reduce waiting times and permit hospitals to dedicate time to the high risk cases referred to them.
• The Midwifery Unit the Premier will be visiting in Kwa-Thema used to provide maternity services, but was closed down in 1987 due to violence in the area. Guided by a Building Committee, the build- ings have now been renovated and staff allocated. It will open to its first clients in Friday, 15 March 1996 - the first of the new units to open.
• Serving a population of over 100 000, the unit will deliver about 250 babies a month and the centre will attend to about 1 000 pregnant women. These women will also be empowered with knowledge and skill's regarding pregnancy and child care, including breast- feeding, nutrition, family planning and the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Later this year, screening for cervical cancer will be introduced through family planning services.
• Although it will initially be run by provincial nursing staff, over time the Unit will provide an essential clinical support and training function, as well as receiving all referred cases.
• In the same way as other midwifery units, special emphasis will be placed on ensuring that these are places where women feel welcome and safe, and can influence the way services are delivered to meet their special needs.