1. Public Hospitals use the following regulations as stipulated in the National Health Act No. 61 of 2003 to dispose of foetuses:
(i) R. 177 Regulations relating to the use of human biological material Section 2. In terms of section 68 of the Act, - regulates who should remove human biological material from health institutions.
(ii) R. 180 Regulations regarding the general control of human bodies, tissue, blood, blood products and gametes, Section 68(1) – regulates handling of deceased bodies/human biological material.
(iii) R. No. Regulations relating to health care waste management in health establishments – the Environmental Health Directorate within the National Department of Health has developed the above mentioned regulation and it has just been approved.
2. (a)-(b) Contracted companies for disposal of foetuses in both public hospitals and abortion clinics are:
Province |
Company |
Eastern Cape |
Compass Waste Management Services |
Free State |
Solid Waste Management Services |
Gauteng |
Buhle Waste Management Services |
KwaZulu-Natal |
Compass Waste Management Services |
Limpopo |
Buhle Waste Management Services |
Mpumalanga |
Buhle Waste Management Services |
North West |
Buhle Waste Management Services |
Northern Cape |
Tshenolo Waste Management Services |
Western Cape |
Solid Waste Management Services |
3. (a) The Department of Health is currently guided by the following regulation:
“Any person who acquires the body of a deceased person or any tissue, blood or gamete by virtue of any provision of the Act and these regulations, shall, subject to any restrictions in terms of the Act or any other law and provided she or he uses the body, tissue, blood or gamete for the purposes for which it has been donated, handed over or supplied to her or to him, on receipt of that body, tissue, blood or gamete acquire exclusive rights in respect thereof.”
(b) The National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC) is a statutory body established in terms of The National Health Act (NHA) to set norms and standards for conducting research on humans, to monitor and institute appropriate disciplinary actions in cases of violation of ethics and human rights. It monitors ethical conduct in research, including the use of fetuses for experimental purposes. Section 72(7) particularly makes provision for “clinical trials” which includes experiments involving human subjects for research purposes. (NHA s 73(1)) requires that every organisation/institution, health agency and health establishment at which health and health-related research involving human participants must have access to a registered Human Research Ethics Committee (REC) that review research involving human participants must be assessed and register with the NHREC (NHA s 73(1)). The NHA (s 72(1)) requires that proposals to conduct ‘health research’ must undergo independent ethics review before the research is commenced.
Furthermore, the Department has established a National Health Research Database (NHRD) to register and monitor all research being conducted in the country. All research studies have to be approved by the Ethics committee and registered in the database before commencement.
END.