On 15 May 2013 the Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, delivered his annual National Health budget and policy speech (here). The speech provides an opportunity for the Minister and his department to communicate progress they have made in delivering health services, the challenges they face and what they plan to do to advance the right to health.

The speech, along with the tabling of the Department’s budget and strategic plans, is also essential in fostering transparency and accountability in how the department plans to meet its obligations in terms of SECTION27 of the Constitution. 

Have your Say!

TAC and RuDASA Eastern Cape Health Consultations

16 May 2013: 9 for 10am to 1pm: Mthatha Town Hall,

Leeds Rd (between Owen & York) - Hosted by the District AIDS Council

18 May 2013: 9 for 10am to 1pm: East London, Turnbull Park Club, 48 Paterson Street

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa (RuDASA), in partnership with the Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP), SECTION27 and the Budget Expenditure Monitoring Forum (BEMF), would like to invite you to a consultation to discuss the crisis of health systems in the Eastern Cape Health.

On the 18 of April 2013 Marije Versteeg from the Rural Health Advocacy Project gave the key presentation at the TAC AGM at Booysens Hotel. Rural areas continue to suffer from persistent inequities in health care. The most deprived districts in the country are all rural, yet the primary health care expenditure in these districts is below the national average. The staffing shortages in rural areas are also the worst, restricting access to health care and infringing on the health rights of rural communities. An HRH revolution is required as well as an urgent move to needs-based budgeting. At its AGM TAC resolved to appoint a Rural Health Rep amongst its leadership and to organise a national march for Rural Health.

Please click here to see presentation. 

The Wits Faculty of Health Science has a long and proud history of training high quality health professionals for South Africa, and for being a leader in medical education, research and service.

Please click here  to see invitation. 

Published in the Mail and Guardian. 

What, if anything, does the private healthcare sector have to offer the rural poor?

By Daygan Eagar

Perched on a hill overlooking the N2 on the outskirts of East London is a new private hospital managed by one of South Africa's largest private healthcare groups.

The hospital offers what it describes as "world-class healthcare that is achieved through a combination of unparalleled quality and clinical excellence". In many ways, its position on this hill marks the gradual expansion of middle-class suburbia into former resort towns of the Eastern Cape; it is a ­conspicuous symbol of "progress" and "development".

As you pass this facility driving towards Mthatha, about 230km away, you start to notice a distinct shift in the landscape from a mix of industry and urban life to the strikingly beautiful open spaces of the rural Eastern Cape. This beauty, however, belies the many hard realities rural communities in this part of the country face every day when trying to access healthcare services of any kind. Here there are few "world-class" facilities.

You need only to look at media reports on the long-standing health crisis in the province to understand that the public health system is wholly under-resourced, understaffed and perpetually on the verge of collapse. To say that rural communities have particularly poor access to healthcare would be an understatement.