Madam Deputy Speaker, The Freedom Charter commits the ANC to provide a preventative health scheme run by the state. It further commits the ANC to provide free medical care, hospitalisation for all, with special care for mothers and young children. On Tuesday 25 August this year, health workers gathered at the summit in Johannesburg to discuss women's health with an emphasis on maternal and child health. The objective of the summit was to obtain consensus among health professionals on key bottlenecks that need to be overcome to improve healthcare; to obtain consensus on how to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals; and to agree on steps that need to be taken urgently to address the challenges we face to improve the health care we provide to the population, and thus provide hope that the health system can be strengthened in such a way that people would receive the type of health care they deserve when they are most vulnerable.
The hon Minister, Dr Motsoaledi, addressed the summit and reminded health care workers and professionals that their profession was a calling that demanded, passion, compassion, as well as dedication and that they should treat all people with love, honour and dignity. He further called on health workers and professionals to abide by this calling and to treat all patients with the dignity that they deserve.
In line with our Freedom Charter, improving the quality of health care is an integral part of the implementation of the National Health Insurance that we propose. In our divided and inequitable society, universal coverage is part of our mandate to bring about redistributive justice and to build a better life for all, and not just a particular few. Together we can do more! Thank you. [Applause.]