Chairperson, hon members, I am indeed delighted that the second reading debate on the National Health Laboratory Service Bill heralds the final stage of a long process in the restructuring of laboratory services in South Africa.
Members will recall that in 1994 my predecessor, Dr Nkosazana Zuma, established several committees which were to advise her on how to restructure the health services. Many of these committees laid the foundations for the present health services, which are designed to improve access to quality health services.
Among the committees which were established was a committee on the restructuring of health laboratory services which was chaired by Prof Jan van den Ende. This committee noted that public health laboratory services were fragmented, partly due to the historical policy of separate development. Laboratory services were often duplicated in urban areas and lack of co-ordination resulted in wastage of resources. Many laboratories were involved in research which had no direct impact on improving service delivery. [Interjections.]