Pretoria - Health stakeholders have commended government's commitment to improve the country's health care system through initiatives announced by President Jacob Zuma during the State of the Nation Address.
Delivering the SONA on Thursday evening, Zuma said this year, government is planning to train more doctors and nurses, upgrade hospitals, and prioritise women's health.
The focus would also be on the appointment of appropriate and qualified people to the right positions and plans are in place to revitalise 105 nursing colleges across the country and a medical faculty is expected to be established at the Limpopo Academic Hospital to train more doctors.
Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) spokesperson, Asanda Fongqo, noted that the organisation has over the years emphasised the importance of appointing personnel with requisite qualifications, particularly in the health sector, to manage the country's services. Denosa called for all plans to be implemented right away.
"We are delighted that about 105 nursing colleges will be revitalised across the country, as this will ensure that more nurses are trained. However, we wish to reiterate the importance of resourcing these nursing colleges appropriately if we are to address chronic staff shortages in health," Fongqo said.
He also described government's focus on the continuing fight against HIV and AIDS, women's health, which includes mother to child transmission as inspiring, as the country was not doing well in this regard.
However, Fongqo said the delay in making the National Health Insurance (NHI) policy document available to health professionals and for public engagement was worrying.
"Health professionals should have by now been on par with developments around its implementation, as they are to ensure that the environment is appropriate for rolling out this all important initiative. We therefore call for urgency in this regard."
Touching on the NHI scheme last night, Zuma said work had gone into developing an implementation plan and policy for the NHI. Government will soon be releasing the policy document for public engagement.
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) said it was pleased to hear the President announce that government intends to appoint appropriate and qualified personnel to the right positions at various levels of medical institutions.
"The plan to revitalise 105 nursing colleges countrywide and to train more nurses, as well as opening a medical faculty at the Limpopo Academic Hospital to train more doctors, was news well received. We hope this is the beginning of a move towards the reversal of the merger between the Medical University of Southern Africa and Turfloop University, a move which we think was ill conceived," said SAMA Chairperson, Dr Norman Mabasa.
Senior research at the Human Sciences Research Council, Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana, also described the SONA as a good commitment from the state.
Ndletyana also welcomed the announcement of the appointment of appropriate and qualified people to the right positions, saying it is a blessing, especially under the leadership of Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
"The appointment of Dr Motsoaledi proved to be a blessing. He is energetic, dedicated to his job and shows seriousness in dealing with issues affecting the country's health system," he said.
