Gordhan must throw financial lifeline to health labs

With 30 health laboratories due to close in KZN and Gauteng today, the DA will appeal to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to throw a lifeline to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS).

Minister Gordhan must table at least a short-term solution for the Treasury to bail out labs during his meeting with the NHLS on Thursday.

I will be writing to Minister Gordhan to urge him to provide this emergency funding. Government must urgently take responsibility given that the lab closures are a consequence of the debt owed to the NHLS due to poor financial management in the provinces.

The KZN health department owes the NHLS R1.1 billion and Gauteng owes R700 million. 

While Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, has called on labs to stay open because of the essential services they provide, he has failed to actually solve the financial woes that threaten their existence.

The lives of babies and the elderly often hinge on the rapid and responsive work of these labs. We need to make sure that they can receive diagnostic services quickly, especially those needing tests for conditions like HIV, TB, meningitis and pneumonia. 

Payment shortfalls are now impacting the ability of the NHLS to keep their labs open and pay their suppliers for continued operations.

If government can afford to give R600 million to Cuba as a symbolic token of friendship, then it can afford to set aside money to save crucial public healthcare labs for our own citizens. 

Statement issued by Patricia Kopane MP, DA Shadow Minister of Health, February 7 2012

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