COSATU eager to sign the Health Compact
20 August 2024
The Congress of the South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is delighted to be one of the parties that will be signing the Presidential Health Compact at the Union Buildings this Thursday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to preside over the signing after it was postponed last Thursday. COSATU’s 1st Deputy President, Mike Shingange, will represent the Federation at the ceremony as the labour signatory.
Established by President Ramaphosa in 2019, the Health Compact is a framework of cooperation between stakeholders that critically influence good health outcomes in the country. The compact assigns roles and responsibilities to a broad range of stakeholders to support the strengthening and preparation of health systems for the implementation of the National Health (NHI). The framework has a monitoring and evaluation component to it.
This compact is an output of the 2023 Presidential Health Summit and builds on the first which came out of the inaugural summit in 2018. It brought together government, labour, business, civil society, health professionals, statutory councils, services users, academia and researchers to develop sustainable, inclusive solutions to challenges in the national health system.
The initial Health Compact consisted of nine pillars with the 10th added during last year’s summit. The pillars include development of human resources; improving access to medicine, vaccines and health products; upgrading infrastructure; engaging private sector; quality healthcare; improvement of public sector financial management; governance and leadership; community engagement; information systems and pandemic preparedness.
COSATU, its health workers’ Affiliates; the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union, the Democratic Nurses of South Africa, the South African Emergency Personnel Union and the South African Medical Association Trade Union have been invited to sign Pillar 1 on Human Resources for Health. Organised labour is a historical contributor and integral part of the success of the implementation of this pillar.
While COSATU acknowledges the importance of the Health Compact and hopes it will be implemented adequately, making the roll out of the NHI a reality, our dedicated Affiliates view the full and proper implementation of Human Resources for Health 2030 as critical, and are unequivocal that 97 000 healthcare workers must be permanently employed by the end 2024 – a third of which must be Community Healthcare Workers.
This is critical as cutting spending on human resources ultimately leads to increased medical litigations against the Department of Health due to otherwise avoidable factors such shortage of staff, medical equipment, beds, etc. Most of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital’s litigations, for instance, stem from its maternity unit and are mainly due to these factors. The department is losing billions of rands that would otherwise be used to improve our public hospitals.
For the Federation and Affiliates, it is crucial that government deliver on its commitment to incorporate 60 000 Community Health Workers into the department, as this commitment has so far seen unbalanced implementation across provinces. Community Health Workers must be prioritised as per Pillar 1’s intent.
COSATU calls for an end to austerity driven budget cuts and urges government to properly fund health, as budget cuts have had a detrimental impact on health infrastructure and the filling of vital vacancies.
The implementation of the NHI is critical for the provision of affordable healthcare to the working class. This Health Compact sets us on a path to the realisation of the NHI and its principles.
Issued by Boitumelo Molete, COSATU Social Development Policy Coordinator, 21 August 2024
