Question NW1716 to the Minister of Health
17 July 2015 - NW1716
Lekota, Mr M to ask the Minister of Health
Whether he had taken any action to engage the Government of the Eastern Cape to reverse its decision not to provide private clinics and pharmacies with free state-issued vaccines considering that this would impact negatively on poor working mothers who could not sacrifice being away from work and that it constituted a denial of right for children not to access vaccines in the most convenient way possible; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details and the outcome thereof?
Reply:
The Eastern Cape Province is considering this matter and will be making a decision shortly.
The key imperatives in considering this matter are:
- Our policy to provide Primary Health Care free at the point of delivery; and
- The need to increase our EPI coverage in a manner that also makes access to immunization services as easy as possible.
END.