04 Mar 2015

Transport constraints make it difficult for the rehabilitation officer to visit all the 36 villages covered under the Mahalapye Sub-District Council, says Assistant Minister of Health, Dr Alfred Madigele.

Dr Madigele said according to the district support visit schedule, all 36 villages in the Mahalapye Sub-district should be visited quarterly, but that due to transport constraints the officer was not able to visit all the villages. 

He said it was, however, important to note that every village had a health facility that was responsible for the health needs of residents in its catchment area including for people with disabilities. 

Dr Madigele added that the arrangement was important for the integration of services for people with disabilities into existing routine health services.

Dr Madigele also noted that his ministry was currently assessing the health needs of people with disabilities across the country, and that the findings would be completed by the end of this financial year.

He said the findings would be used to inform future activities as well as whether or not there was need to increase the number of rehabilitation officers in districts.

He said his ministry was working closely with other ministries and the Office of the President to align the needs of people with disabilities to line ministries and sectors as this would guide on the role clarity of each sector and improve access to various services required by people with disabilities.

Mahalapye West MP, Mr Joseph Molefe had asked the minister if he was aware that there was only one rehabilitation officer in Mahalapye Sub-district. 

He wanted to know how many times does the officer visit each village and what plans were in place to increase officers.   ENDS