‘Healthcare for all’ is a laudable and often repeated aim but South Africa, like many nations around the world, faces the challenges associated with realising this dream for its rural populations.
Limpopo Health and Social Development MEC, Dr Norman Mabasa, will be discussing this issue at the Metropolitan Health Engage Forum to be held at The Forum in Bryanston on June 13. Entrance is free.
“Rural South Africa lags significantly in development and health outcomes,” he says, “and we need to build partnerships between Government and the private sector to find ways to convince qualified healthcare professionals to make a big shift in lifestyle and move to the rural areas. The need is dire.”
Acute provider shortages are just one of the many challenges facing rural healthcare in South Africa. Hosted by Metropolitan Health, the biannual Engage Forum provides a platform for meaningful engagement in search of solutions to key issues in the healthcare sector. This Engage Forum marks the start of an industry-level conversation in search of solutions to the many challenges facing rural healthcare in South Africa. It attracts a diverse mix of role players, including academia, research organisations, the private and public sector, NGOs, medical schemes and pharmaceutical companies.
“The United Nations’ Alma Ata Declaration makes it clear that ‘healthcare for all’ requires an effective allocation of healthcare resources across the entire population of a country,” explains Blum Khan, CEO of Metropolitan Health. “We in the private sector are not removed from this responsibility. We believe in opening doors for collaboration and in offering our expertise in ways that make a tangible difference in the lives of all South Africans, regardless of location.”
For Professor Marthie Bezuidenhout, one of the solutions is to provide training opportunities for nurses in rural areas. She is project manager for the TUT PHC Community Based Health Service which is aimed at enhancing nursing education within the Adelaide Tambo School of Nursing Science at the Tshwane University of Technology.
At the Metropolitan Health Engage Forum she will be explaining how the new nursing educational model she helped to develop is bringing nursing care to rural communities.
“We received international funding to develop a mobile primary healthcare clinic in a resource poor community,” she says. “As it serves the community, it also provides real life clinical learning opportunities for under- and post-graduate nursing students.”
Dr Hugo Tempelman, CEO of the Ndlovu Medical Trust will use the Forum to give a practical example of how the private sector can work with government to create an integrated healthcare service within rural communities that will address HIV, TB and chronic illnesses and diseases.
Other speakers at the forum include:
- Daygan Eager, Programme Manager of the Rural Health Advocacy Project.
- Andrew Milne, CEO of Hello Doctor, an organisation which seeks innovative solutions in healthcare.
- Dr Saul Kornik, CEO of Africa Health Placements, an NPO which works together with government, civil society and the private sector to alleviate the shortages of healthcare professionals in disadvantaged communities.
- Professor Susan Wright, Head of Adelaide Tambo School of Nursing Science.
