Starting this week, over 90 government doctors began making house calls in the Eastern Cape.
Mpunzana village, which falls under King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality, was chosen to honour the late Nelson Mandela in his centenary celebrations, and it will be their focus today as health MEC Helen Sauls-August sets about introducing the Mandela-Castro Thuma Mina Community Wellness Programme there.
Next week the department will welcome 65 medical students returning from cuba after completing the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Programme.
The students will join the team in expanding healthcare throughout the province as part of the department’s programme to bring services health to rural areas.
Sauls-August said: “The doctors and health professionals have been sent to help villagers with chronic illnesses.
“This is part of the Mandela and Sisulu centenary programme. It will also be rolled out to other districts.
“The department wanted to see and pilot the Cuban medical model’s approach of household calls during this week.
“During the outreach we are also educating and encouraging people to complete their treatment.”
This is in line with NHI principles of ensuring universal healthcare for all.
Many people in rural areas struggle to access health facilities because of poor roads, and this can lead to health complications.
The Cuban-trained doctors will be conducting house-calls and attending to those with chronic diseases in their own homes instead of seeing them at health facilities.
This is in line with the Cuban model, which prioritises prevention and early detection instead of the curative system in place in South Africa.
The outreach programme, which started on Monday at the Nyandeni sub-district, seeks to address the community component of the programme, which is not performing well.
The department anticipates that over 1000 people will be attended to by doctors on the day.
The 2018 Provincial Health Status and Performance of Health System Report states that the province is beset by a quadruple disease burden: communicable (including TB, HIV/Aids); perinatal and maternal; non-communicable; and injury-related conditions.
Many of these are the result of low socioeconomic conditions, which directly affect the health outcomes and quality of life (current health status) of an individual.
KSD and Nyandeni sub-districts are among the areas not performing well in clinical outcomes. Together with hypertension and haemorrhage, HIV, Aids and TB are the top three causes of maternal mortality in the OR Tambo District as a whole.
House-calls with love from Madiba
Image: Gett Images
Starting this week, over 90 government doctors began making house calls in the Eastern Cape.
Mpunzana village, which falls under King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality, was chosen to honour the late Nelson Mandela in his centenary celebrations, and it will be their focus today as health MEC Helen Sauls-August sets about introducing the Mandela-Castro Thuma Mina Community Wellness Programme there.
Next week the department will welcome 65 medical students returning from cuba after completing the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Programme.
The students will join the team in expanding healthcare throughout the province as part of the department’s programme to bring services health to rural areas.
Sauls-August said: “The doctors and health professionals have been sent to help villagers with chronic illnesses.
“This is part of the Mandela and Sisulu centenary programme. It will also be rolled out to other districts.
“The department wanted to see and pilot the Cuban medical model’s approach of household calls during this week.
“During the outreach we are also educating and encouraging people to complete their treatment.”
This is in line with NHI principles of ensuring universal healthcare for all.
Many people in rural areas struggle to access health facilities because of poor roads, and this can lead to health complications.
The Cuban-trained doctors will be conducting house-calls and attending to those with chronic diseases in their own homes instead of seeing them at health facilities.
This is in line with the Cuban model, which prioritises prevention and early detection instead of the curative system in place in South Africa.
The outreach programme, which started on Monday at the Nyandeni sub-district, seeks to address the community component of the programme, which is not performing well.
The department anticipates that over 1000 people will be attended to by doctors on the day.
The 2018 Provincial Health Status and Performance of Health System Report states that the province is beset by a quadruple disease burden: communicable (including TB, HIV/Aids); perinatal and maternal; non-communicable; and injury-related conditions.
Many of these are the result of low socioeconomic conditions, which directly affect the health outcomes and quality of life (current health status) of an individual.
KSD and Nyandeni sub-districts are among the areas not performing well in clinical outcomes. Together with hypertension and haemorrhage, HIV, Aids and TB are the top three causes of maternal mortality in the OR Tambo District as a whole.
Cuban specialists to boost Eastern Cape education
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