NCOP
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 424
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 August 2012
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 22)
Mr M J R de Villiers (DA-WC) to ask the Minister of Health:
(1) How much money was spent on napkins for (a) babies and (b) adults in
each province (i) in the (aa) 2009-10, (bb) 2010-11 and (cc) 2011-12
financial years and (ii) from 1 April 2012 up to the latest specified
date for which information is available;
(2) whether hospitals have monitoring and control systems in place to
manage the (a) receiving and (b) usage of napkins in each medical
facility; if not, (i) why not and (ii) what plans are in place to
rectify this situation; if so, what are the relevant details of the
updated reports;
(3) (a) what processes are in place to ensure that the control of the
disposal of napkins is in line with the (i) national and (ii)
international criteria of medical disposal in waste management and (b)
what measures are being taken to (i) prevent uncontrolled disposal of
napkins and (ii) encourage and regulate napkin disposal in waste
management?
CW529E
REPLY:
(1) The table below provide amount spent on napkins which include the
cost for both baby and adult napkins.
Table 1.
| |Province | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 01 Aril |
| | | | | |2012 to |
| | | | | |latest |
| | | | | |specified |
| | | | | |date |
| | | (1)(i)(aa) | (1)(i)(bb) | (1)(i)(cc) | (1)(ii) |
| |Eastern Cape | R677,933.74 | R6,335,075.27| | |
| | | | |R7,170,626.88|R3,885,075.8|
| | | | | |8 |
| |Free State | R2,183,856.10| R2,045,044.80| | |
| | | | |R2,856,041.08|R1,008,362.0|
| | | | | |7 |
| |Gauteng | | R9,300,655.25| | |
| | |R13,913,467.43| |R12,536,311.0|R6,052,784.8|
| | | | |2 |1 |
| |KwaZulu-Natal| R0.00 | R0.00 | | |
| | | | |R20,548,096.0|R7,249,651.7|
| | | | |5 |0 |
| |Limpopo | R7,430,310.78| R8,899,763.64| | |
| | | | |R6,150,625.35|R2,525,474.8|
| | | | | |5 |
| |Mpumalanga | R94,980.00 | R216,514.25 | R31,860.18 | R0.00 |
| |Northern Cape| R983,497.96 | R790,142.20 | | R231,612.26|
| | | | |R1,687,948.97| |
| |North West | R0.00 | R9,260,021.47| | |
| | | | |R11,698,191.6|R2,303,283.8|
| | | | |1 |8 |
| |Western Cape | R7,431,739.49| R6,903,302.63| | |
| | | | |R6,248,239.10|R2,595,200.6|
| | | | | |4 |
| |TOTAL | |R43,750,519.51| |R25,851,446.|
| | |R32,715,785.50| |R68,927,940.2|09 |
| | | | |4 | |
(2) Yes. Monitoring and controlling are through provincial offices.
(3) (a) (i) Disposal of napkins is handled in the same manner as any
other health care waste within the health facilities. Waste
Management Officers monitor compliance of the service
providers with tender specifications as guided by National
Guidelines. This ensures that quality control measures as
well as norms and standards are adhered to. The
municipalities through their Environmental Health
Practitioners ensure compliance with proper handling,
storage and disposal of waste in line relevant policies and
legislation.
(ii) This management of health care waste is in line with both
national and international standards as prescribed by the
South African National Standard (SANS) 10248-1:2008 and
Safe Management of Waste from Health-Care activities, of
WHO 1999 respectively.
(b) (i)-(ii) Measures taken to prevent uncontrolled disposal of
napkins and to regulate napkin disposal are guided by the
Waste Management Strategy, which was developed by the
Department of Environmental Affairs. The strategy has
stipulated clear and proper methods for segregation, colour-
coding and packaging measures within the health care
facility. This is accompanied by continuous health
education which is done at both facilities and community
level.
END.