No, I am Dr Tshabalala-Msimang. [Laughter.]
This was not the beginning of the debate on the restructuring of laboratory services. This need was identified even by the old regime as early as 1973. The then South African government established the Meiring-Naud commission of inquiry into laboratory services. The commission of inquiry recommended the establishment of a single nationally controlled and co-ordinated laboratory service. It also recommended that laboratory research be better co-ordinated to support the national health system. It is, however, regrettable that the previous regime did not have the courage and political will to implement the recommendations of the commission of inquiry, because, frankly speaking, those recommendations are as relevant today as they were 27 years ago.
After considering many options on the restructuring of laboratory services, the Health Minmec opted for the establishment of a public entity as a vehicle for amalgamating all health laboratory services under a single umbrella. Thus, in 1998, the Ministry of Health established a task team on the restructuring of laboratory services, chaired by Prof Kallichurum, to advise Government on the implementation of these recommendations. The Health Minmec accepted the report of Prof Kallichurum and appointed Dr Nicholas Crisp as the project manager to implement the recommendations of the task team.
There are approximately 6 000 health workers employed in public health laboratory services in South Africa. They are mainly pathologists, medical technologists and technicians, research scientists, professional nurses, administration staff and general assistants.
The SA Institute for Medical Research was established in 1917 by the government, in partnership with the Chamber of Mines, primarily to conduct medical research into diseases which were common on the mines. This institute now employs over 2 000 people and provides almost 50% of all laboratory services in the public health sector, the rest being provided by the provincially owned health laboratory services.
The Department of Health opened negotiations with the Chamber of Mines with a view to integrating all laboratory services into a public entity. When the Chamber of Mines withdrew unconditionally from the SA Institute for Medical Research, as of 1 January 1999, this paved the way for the comprehensive restructuring of all publicly owned laboratories into a new public entity.
I would like to thank the Chamber of Mines for its commitment to medical research, which they have demonstrated throughout the years through their participation in the SA Institute for Medical Research as joint partners with Government.
The intention of this Bill, therefore, is to establish a new national health laboratory service to support the national health system. The new organisation will be formed by disestablishing the SA Institute for Medical Research, the National Institute for Virology, the National Centre for Occupational Health and the forensic chemical laboratories, and amalgamating these institutions with the provincial health laboratory services under a new public entity. The aim of this entity will be to provide integrated, co-ordinated, affordable, accessible and equitable health laboratory services, primarily to the public health sector.
This consolidation of health care resources will promote the harmonisation of laboratories, standards and quality assurance, efficiency, cost- effectiveness and the rational use of resources, amongst other things, through benefits from economies of scale. It will also promote access to new and appropriate technologies.
South Africa also has a firm academic background of research and development to improve service delivery. An important component of the National Health Laboratory Service will be the possible creation within it of a national institute for communicable diseases, which will be formed from the National Institute for Virology together with the public health microbiology laboratory at the SA Institute for Medical Research and an epidemiology unit.
This new institute will play a crucial role in the surveillance of communicable diseases not only for South Africa, but also for the SADC region. The National Institute for Virology, which came into being in April 1976 when the laboratories of the Poliomyelitis Research Foundation were transferred to the Department of Health, currently serves as the national reference laboratory for South Africa and the region for viral diseases of medical importance. The institute is also a World Health Organisation reference laboratory for viral haemorrhagic fevers and for vaccine- preventable viral diseases such as poliomyelitis. Scientists from the institute have played a key role in diagnosing and assisting in the control of viral haemorrhagic fevers in Africa and the Middle East.
The institute is also a key laboratory in the global network of the WHO involved in the global polio eradication campaign. It carries out research in support of the South African Aids vaccine initiative, popularly known as SAAVI, which many hon members may have read about after the press briefing by the president of the Medical Research Council yesterday. May I add that we fully support this initiative and that we have contributed large amounts of resources for the work they do.
I am outlining all these details for everyone to appreciate that what we are doing is to consolidate these national scientific resources to enhance South Africa's competitive advantage and to harness scientific expertise in support of our health system and of the region.
It is therefore my vision that, through the National Health Laboratory Service, we will establish a truly competent organisation to support Government in its efforts to provide quality care to its citizens. Through this organisation we will be able to monitor new and re-emerging diseases through a robust and integrated national disease surveillance system.
We should develop this organisation into a centre of excellence where we will train our young scientists, especially those who come from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, to take up their rightful place in science. The aim is to raise others as we rise. The benefits of amalgamating our health laboratory services will be felt throughout the region. This Bill provides for the National Health Laboratory Service to provide services beyond our borders. We will have a vehicle to harmonise laboratory standards throughout the SADC region and support those neighbours on the continent who do indeed need our support.
The National Health Laboratory Service also provides a mechanism for harnessing the energy and resources of all the provinces, as the Health Minmec will become the supreme policy-making body whose policies will be implemented through a board. This will allow the National Health Laboratory Service greater flexibility to manage the organisation on sound business principles, whilst also attending to the values of access to quality and equitable health care services.
The process of amalgamating the various laboratory services into a single public entity is clearly spelled out in the Bill. Our Government is committed to implementing progressive labour relations legislation to ensure that the transition and transfer of personnel to the new public entity will be as smooth as possible.
The Bill makes provision for proper transitional arrangements. We also conducted an in-depth audit of all the assets which will be transferred to the new entity in order to ensure that the transition will be as smooth as possible. To avoid chaos in the implementation process, the Bill allows for different dates for the commencement of different provisions of the Act.
I would like to thank the Select Committee on Social Services for carefully considering this Bill. I was regularly informed by officials from my department about progress in the discussions with the select committee and was able to give guidance whenever needed. I have studied some of the submissions from the various provinces and stakeholders. The level of debate and comments which were reflected in those submissions did indeed impress me. I am sure that many members were almost becoming experts on many technical matters relating to laboratory medicine.
In a special way I would like to thank the chairperson of the select committee and her staff for piloting the Bill up to this stage. I sincerely hope that the NCOP will pass the Bill and refer it to the portfolio committee in the National Assembly for its perusal and ratification. This is an important piece of legislation. It is one of the final pillars of the transformation of service delivery in our country. I am sure that everyone will agree that, in the light of dwindling resources for basic services, we need to consolidate our basic health care resources to ensure better co- ordination, efficiency and effectiveness, and this is the primary objective of this Bill. [Applause.]