NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 917
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 18 March 2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 8)
Ms E More (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:
Whether his department intends to embark on a marketing strategy in order
to encourage health professionals from overseas countries to come and work
in South Africa; if not, why not; if so, (a) when will the marketing
strategy commence, (b) in which countries and (c) what will the cost of the
marketing strategy be?
NW1034E
REPLY:
No, Africa Health Placements (AHP), a non-governmental organisation (NGO),
has a marketing strategy they use in order to attract health professionals
to the rural facilities of South Africa.
a) AHP started marking vacancies in 2005. This marking campaign
constitutes attendance at international career fairs, print
advertising in international medical journals, word-of-mouth campaigns
through current recruits who have or are currently working in South
Africa, a huge online presence through www.ahp.org.za. Social
networking portals and banner advertising are used to market
employment opportunities. AHP is also assisting the public health
sector to form âbrain exchangeâ partnerships with international
training institutions where foreign specialists-in-training come to
South Africa to serve the rural people as part of their practice.
Recruitment from other countries is also informed by political
decisions through government-to-government agreements. Currently we
have recruited general practitioners and specialists from Cuba, Iran
and Tunisia under government-to-government agreements as these
countries have excess health professionals.
South Africa launched a new initiative called âwhere are you in the
worldâ, to reach its Diaspora. The initiative seeks to identify South
Africans living abroad in order to ultimately encourage them to return
to their home country. There is an incentive for the Diaspora to
complete the online survey â they stand a chance of winning two return
flights to South Africa. The project is managed by the Development
Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and Homecoming Revolution, a non-profit
organisation sponsored by First National Bank (FNB). Government has
committed itself to encourage skilled expatriates to play a part in
the socio-economic development of the country of their birth, as part
of the New Economic Growth Plan.
b) Marketing is only done in developed countries, mainly: United Kingdom
(UK), the United States of America (USA), Netherlands, Belgium,
Sweden, Canada and Australia by AHP.
c) AHPâs annual marketing budget is around R2m per annum.
In line with the Negotiated Service Delivery Agreements (NSDA) and the
engineered Primary Health Care (PHC) model that will need skilled health
professionals to work as teams, there will be a need for more health
workers.
END.