Committee Report on Department of Health Budget and Strategic Plan

Meeting report

Committee Report on Department of Health Budget and Strategic Plan
The Chairperson placed the report before the Committee for consideration. Members adopted the minutes without any changes.

Mr D Kganare (COPE) proposed that the Committee include alcohol and drug abuse in the recommendations and that a further recommendation be made that the Department of Health should work with the Department of Social Development in curbing this problem

The Chairperson replied that the Department of Health had informed the Committee that although this was a legal issue they would be engaging with the Department of Social Development to curb the alcohol and drug abuse problem especially at schools.

Ms P Duncan (DA) wanted to know if the four areas that were chosen, namely HIV & AIDS, high maternal and child mortality, Non-communicable diseases, and violence and injuries were going to be the only areas of focus in this financial year.

The Chairperson replied that the decision to prioritise these areas rested with the Department and that the Committee’s role was to exercise oversight over this.

Ms Duncan welcomed the government’s adoption of the outcome based approach to service delivery and implored the Committee to also encourage the Department to look into youth and women’s health issues.

The Chairperson replied that the report touched on the youth in relation to HIV&AIDS and women in relation to maternal deaths. Although South Africa was not doing well in curbing the rate of maternal deaths, the report nevertheless showed the Department’s commitment to addressing this issue.

Ms M Dube (ANC) wanted clarity as to why the hospitals that were currently under construction were not included in the 5 priority projects of accelerated delivery of health infrastructure.

The Chairperson clarified that these projects were left out because they related to the 2010 World Cup infrastructure plans.

Mr D Sulliman (ANC) added that the 5 hospitals ,namely Nelson Mandela Academic (Eastern Cape),Chris Hani Baragwanath (Gauteng), Dr George Mukhari (Gauteng), Limpopo Academic (Limpopo) and King Edward VII (KwaZulu-Natal) were singled out as important projects on account of their being Public-Private Partnerships.

The report was adopted without amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.