20 Feb 2019

The main reason for the relocation of primary health care services from the Ministry of Local Government to the then Ministry of Health was to create a single health authority, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Alfred Madigele has said.

Dr Madigele said according to Presidential Directive CAB 28 of 2009, the relocation was enacted to create a single health authority as well as to enable continuum of care from primary to quaternary care and to enhance standardisation of patient care. “There have been several challenges associated with the relocation most of which are systemic and structural,” the minister said, adding that “however, my ministry still continues with initiatives dedicated to its key focus areas, organisational transformation, sustainable quality health care services, preventative health care approach and economic diversification drive.”

Mr Madigele said in mitigating the challenges, his ministry held an executive leadership forum on January 20-22, 2018, the purpose of which was to set the roadmap which shall set strategic priorities to help meet service delivery expectations, and position the health service for the transformation that was critical for sustainability and excellence.

“My ministry strategic priorities under the roadmap were decentralisation, universal health coverage, tertiary care, strategic leveraging on the private sector, supply chain, research, staff welfare and availability,” Dr Madigele said.

He added that in terms of decentralisation, the ministry was being restructured to strengthen regional offices.  He said it would empower District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) and transform them into fully fledged regional health authorities with authority to make decisions to improve the delivery of services. He said regional health authorities would have budgetary autonomy and the provision of essential personnel to set up self-sufficient administrative entities at regional level, which would ultimately enable local planning for every region and resourcing to enable execution of the plans.

With regard to insufficient pharmaceuticals, he said the ministry was engaged in interventions of reviewing distribution and disposal guidelines to manage expiries/wastage; capacitating Central Medical Stores (CMS) on logistics management, and conducting targeted and planned engagement meetings with customers and stakeholders.

He further revealed that his ministry had provided micro procurement vote for pharmaceutical products that could not be provided by CMS, adding that even before centralisation, health facilities were still supplied by CMS.

Mochudi East MP, Mr Moagi Molebatsi had asked if the minister was aware that the centralisation of services had negatively affected the delivery of health services in the community looking at the shortage of ambulances in clinics, insufficient pharmaceutical products, expiration of pharmaceutical products before dispatch and idling medical experts in councils. ENDS