Politician Profile Page
Health
Health Care Services for the Mentally Ill: Eastern & Western Cape Departments of Health
7 Mar 2017
The Eastern Cape and the Western Cape provincial departments of health reported on the state of health care services for mentally ill patients, in the light of the recent events at Life Esidimeni in Gauteng. The reports provided the number of beds available versus the demand for beds, type of ...
Health
Health Sector Report: briefing by Auditor-General
1 Mar 2017
The Office of the Auditor-General presented the Health Sector report to the Committee. It provided information which had the potential of empowering the Committee during its oversight functions by focusing on key areas of service delivery. The report was based on findings of audits conducted in selected hospitals from the ...
Health
Information sharing meeting with the German Delegation
24 Feb 2017
The Committee met with the delegates from the Budget Committee on Health from Germany. The delegates declared that their intention for coming to South Africa was to learn more about the South African health system and to explore opportunities for co-operation, with a focus on the issues of HIV/AIDS. The ...
Health
Pharmaceuticals management at Departments of Health: Auditor General briefing
22 Feb 2017
A delegation from the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) presented their report on the performance audit of the management of pharmaceuticals at the Department of Health. Key findings of the report were separated into different levels of the distribution of pharmaceuticals. These included policies and planning, procurement, distribution to ...
Health
Deaths of mentally ill patients in Gauteng: Health Ombud report and Minister's response; with Deputy Minister present
15 Feb 2017
Document outstanding: Overview of Transferred Psychiatric patients from Life Esidimeni Centre to various NGOs in Gauteng
The Minister of Health introduced the Health Ombud who had been requested to investigate the 94+ mentally ill patients who died between 23 March and 19 Dec 2016 in Gauteng. The Minister had also ...
Finance Standing Committee
Taxation of Sugar Sweetened Beverages: public hearings
14 Feb 2017
Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA) said that in Tembisa, a township in Johannesburg, it was easy to access sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) where advertising for SSBs was at every corner. It could no longer be ignored what multinationals were doing. Almost all schools had their names written on Coca Cola SA billboards; ...
The National Department of Health presented to the Portfolio Committee. According to the Chairperson, the Health Ombudsman released a report related to the death of mentally-ill patients. The Chairperson said that the report was very disturbing. Last year 36 mentally-ill patients were reported to have died in various NGO facilities. ...
Finance Standing Committee
Taxation of Sugar Sweetened Beverages: public hearings
31 Jan 2017
The Department of Health told a joint meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Standing Committee Finance that 38 million people die due to non-communicable diseases. 28 million deaths occur in low and middle income countries. 16 million people die before the age of 70. Cardiovascular diseases are the ...
Health
Medical Innovation Bill: Department of Health input
23 Nov 2016
The Portfolio Committee was briefed by the Department of Health on the Medical Innovation Bill of 2014. This Bill, which originated from the private Member's Bill by the late Dr Oriano-Ambrosini, provides for innovation in medical treatment, legalising the use of cannabinoids for medical purposes and legalising commercial and industrial ...
Health
Public health facilities inspections: Public Service Commission briefing
9 Nov 2016
The Public Service Commission (PSC) briefed the Committee on the outcome of its inspection to selected health facilities. The aim of the PSC inspection is to assess the quality of services to the public, the state of facilities and the conditions at service sites. The main objective of the inspection ...