Deputy Speaker, hon President, Minister, may I, on behalf of the DA, convey our deepest sympathy to the families who have lost loved ones due to the H1N1 virus.
While the DA realises that we have seasonal flu and that there are unfortunately casualties every year, we still believe more could and should have been done to educate the public about H1N1 as well as the ways of reducing the spread of the virus.
We welcome the Minister's statement here today. The Minister knows that I have great respect for him, but honestly, Minister, it is a few months too late. Since 28 April 2009, that is four months ago, the DA has been calling on you to do what you have just done today; make a public announcement and take the public into your confidence. We have also been calling for an educational ... [Interjections.] We have, Minister.
We have been calling for an educational programme to educate the general public on how best we can reduce the spread of the virus. This is because we wanted to prevent a huge spike at our health facilities which we are experiencing currently, and we cannot cope. By educating the public, you not only reduce the spread of the virus, but you also spread it out over a longer period and thus enable the health facilities to cope in a better manner.
It does seem, to some degree, that we are now closing the stable gate after the horse has actually bolted. But we do appreciate, Minister, the actions you are taking today and the public education programme that you have embarked on recently.
The purpose of educating the public on basic hygiene, as I have said, was to slow down the spread of H1N1. There are some questions, hon Minister, that we would have liked you to have elaborated on; maybe one of the ANC's speakers can elaborate on them. Are the staff at hospitals using N95 respirator masks as opposed to common surgical masks in order to reduce the risk of being infected with the virus? The N95 respirator masks are the only ones that have been shown to reduce or alter the infection ability by 95% in order to help medical staff not to contract the virus.
Minister, you also mentioned that you would like vulnerable groups to receive Tamiflu at the first signs of flu or H1N1 infection. But on our recent trip to the Eastern Cape - and the portfolio committee members can attest to this - we saw queues at public health institutions where people couldn't even access ARVs. ARVs were at the dispensary, but people couldn't even get to the front of the queue in order to get that medication. In fact our bus driver's wife had been waiting for a week for her ARVs and was sent to hospital because she fell ill. What steps are in place to ensure that vulnerable groups will receive Tamiflu timeously and not have to wait in long queues?
We would also like to know what strategies the government has for infection control at public health facilities. A sure way of ensuring the fast spread of H1N1 is to have people with those symptoms waiting in waiting rooms for hours on end, infecting everybody around them. So, what strategies do we have in place for people we suspect have the virus to receive medication other than them waiting in waiting rooms all the time?
We commend you for your comments with regard to creating our own capacity for vaccines. But what have we done in order to place orders, hon Minister? While we appreciate that Europe and America want to look after their own people first, have you taken any steps to order the vaccine and how do you envisage ensuring that vulnerable groups get the vaccine? [Interjections.] [Time expired.]