Deputy Speaker, the words of this doctor tell it like it is:
Instead of the hopeful anticipation usually associated with the announcement of the annual Budget Speech, it is now met with anger. If so much money has been allocated to HIV, why do our pharmacies constantly run out of lifesaving ARVs? Why are HIV babies going hungry because there is no baby formula in the clinics?
I would like the powers that be to justify why my hypertensive-diabetic patients have to go for months without HCTZ and aspirin. How can I be expected to offer emergency procedures like caesarean sections when the autoclave machine hasn't worked for months?
Of course these are just isolated incidents, but these and many more horror stories are becoming the norm in hospitals around the country.
The system is neither friendly to the people it is meant to serve nor to the health care workers operating it. It serves the larger part of the population, but is allocated a chunk of the budget that is inadequate for what it is attempting to achieve. The feeling amongst most healthcare workers is that we are being expected to perform miracles on scraps. We have a mammoth task to fight HIV and TB; as if that wasn't enough we have the growing battle of social issues like poverty, unemployment and alcohol abuse, which all come with their complications.
The ever-growing queues in our clinics and hospitals are a testament of how much sickness and disease are in our communities. Most doctors in the state sector do not mind the increased workload and have come to accept it as a normal part of their job. What they do mind is being expected to do the job under the most difficult conditions without being given proper tools.
The Department of Health dragged the wage negotiations on for months but failed to tackle core issues. They still cannot justify the lack in supply of standard equipment like latex gloves and syringes.
In view of these considerable concerns including the shocking mortality rate of women and children, especially babies, and government's continued commitment to aborting babies indiscriminately, the ACDP will not support this Budget Vote. I thank you.