Question NW2299 to the Minister of Health
11 December 2024 - NW2299
Powell, Ms EL to ask the Minister of Health
(1) In each province, what is the total number of healthcare facilities that (a) currently comply with Section 3(1)(a-k) of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, Act 92 of 1996 as amended in 2008 and (b) have had their approval that was granted in terms of subsection 3(1)(k) of the Act withdrawn for reasons of non-compliance in the period 1 January 2018 up to the latest date for which information is available; (2) what total number of pregnancy termination records were provided to the Director-General of the Department of Health as envisaged in Section 7(4)(b) of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, Act 92 of 1996 in each year since 1 January 2014 up to the latest date for which information is available; (3) what are the (a) legal grounds upon which a medical practitioner may refuse to perform a termination of pregnancy within the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy and (b) alternative options, such as referrals, is a healthcare practitioner required in law to provide a patient with where such a practitioner refuses to perform the specified medical procedure?
Reply:
1. (a) The total number of healthcare facilities that (a) currently comply with Section 3(1)(a-k) of the CTOP Act, Act no 92 of 1996 as amended in 2008 is shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Number of public health facilities compliant with CTOP Act, Act no 92 of 1996
|
Province |
Number of Public health facilities |
|
Eastern Cape |
37 |
|
Free State |
14 |
|
Gauteng |
49 |
|
KwaZulu Natal |
63 |
|
Limpopo |
51 |
|
Mpumalanga |
35 |
|
Northern Cape |
7 |
|
North West |
33 |
|
Western Cape |
57 |
|
South Africa |
346 |
b) Approval has not been withdrawn from any facilities.
2. Only one data element on termination of pregnancy performed in public health facilities was collected before 2017. Data for the period 2014 to 2016 is shown in Table 2 below.
|
Table 2: Number terminations of pregnancy performed in public health facilities |
|||
|
Year |
Termination of pregnancy performed |
||
|
2014 |
175 788 |
||
|
2015 |
170 682 |
||
|
2016 |
191 760 |
||
Source: District Health Information System
The number of terminations of pregnancy provided in public health facilities, disaggregated into gestational stages (0-12 weeks and 13 -20 weeks) for the period 2017 to date is shown in Table 3 below.
Table 3: Number of terminations of pregnancy provided in public health facilities, disaggregated into gestational stages (0-12 weeks and 13 -20 weeks)
|
Year |
0-12 weeks |
13-20 weeks |
|
2017 |
65 485 |
11 683 |
|
2018 |
98 155 |
15 540 |
|
2019 |
106 579 |
16 406 |
|
2020 |
95 783 |
13 240 |
|
2021 |
102 280 |
12 216 |
|
2022 |
121 714 |
13 809 |
|
2023 |
122 410 |
15 729 |
|
2024 |
107 165 |
11 344 |
Source: District Health Information System
3. (a) According to the CTOP Act, Act no 92 of 1996, doctors and nurses are not obliged to provide termination of pregnancy. However, according to the Act, all health care providers are obliged to refer clients to a facility where the service is rendered, and to provide any emergency treatment which is needed as a result of a termination of pregnancy, irrespective of where the termination was performed.
b) According to the CTOP Act, Act no 92 of 1996, health care workers are obliged to give accurate information on termination of pregnancy services, and refer clients to a Termination of Pregnancy Clinic. Failure to do this can result in the health care provider facing a penalty of imprisonment of not less than ten years.
END.