YCL DISGUSTED BY THE STATE OF PUBLIC HOSPITALS

The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] is utterly disgusted by the state of public hospitals, their lack of quality service for the working class and their continuous hogging of headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Our public hospitals have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons most recently. First it was the Mortuary stuff at the Chris Hani Baragwanath selling lists of dead patients to funeral undertakers. This hideous practice has been going on for some time now and further diminishes the little trust we have in our public hospitals.

The current state of our public hospitals is horrible and depressing with most of them close to being non functional. Most of them have a shortage or lack of medication, critical professional staff such as specialists and nurses, etc. This has resulted in patients being turned away as our hospitals lack capacity to service our people. Low staff morale has been reported in some hospitals and this does not bode well for our service delivery agenda.

The Sowetan newspaper reports that a young man by the name of Thato Mofokeng has been turned away from the Helen Joseph Hospital because the hospital does not have the medicine or capacity to treat kidney cancer. He was then referred to a private hospital, whereas he cannot afford since he is unemployed. The hospital sent him back home since he is poor and cannot afford the costs attached to treating him.

The question that begs is what happened to his right to adequate public health and why did the doctor in the first instance send him away despite his health state. The state has a duty to ensure that Thato is afforded the right to adequate public health care; hence we call for the speedy implementation of the National Health Insurance that will ensure that class is no more a determinant of the type of quality health care provision one can access.

For example Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital has been underfunded in this financial year thus failing to perform some of its chief responsibilities. We demand the current challenges faced by our hospitals and other health institutions are addressed in line with the priorities our government has set as health remains a pillar of our developmental agenda.

We have constantly called for the state to build and strengthen its internal capacity to provide services to the people. A state pharmaceutical company is much needed to carry the burden of the production of drugs and to ensure we are saved from the mediocrity of private pharmaceuticals. This will go a long way in ensuring that we have enough drugs at hospitals and that our government does not remain victim to over prized drugs from foreign pharmaceutical companies which are only about profits.

Statement issued by  Stalin Khonza, National Spokesperson of the Young Communist League of SA, August 16 2012

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