by: Deborah Bender, PhD, MPH
Cape Town, South Africa is indeed one of the most beautiful topographical settings I have ever visited. Behind me, just out of the kitchen window sits Table Mountain. The mountain, the coast, the gardens – they are each just a bit more striking than I had anticipated.
A second expectation I had on arriving in Cape Town was that health conversations would be all about HIV/AIDS and how best to contain the epidemic through distribution of anti-retroviral and advocacy for behavior change.
On September 1, just a week after my arrival the Weekend Argus Newspaper of Cape Town published an article titled, “Health staffing crisis ‘wrecking the Aids [sic] battle.’”
The article focuses on a recent meeting to discuss the crisis of human resources held recently in Johannesburg. “The government needs to hire an extra 1,000 doctors, 3,000 professional nurses and 700 pharmacists by next year to successfully deliver anti-retroviral medicines to millions of HIV-positive South Africans using public health care.”
The gaps in the public health system are not lack of medicines or even the high cost of the treatment. The 80% of the population who receive health care through the public health care system must cope with understaffing of public health facilities estimated to be between 30 and 50 %.
Reasons for the staffing shortage include the migration of doctors and nurses to the UK and to Canada, the flat budget of the public health system during the past ten years and the huge increase in care needs due to rapidly increasing rates of HIV/Aids [sic].
A follow-up article appeared on September 5, indicates that staffing shortages are not only affecting the public health system, but also major tertiary hospitals such as Groote Schuur, Tygerberg and the Red Cross Children’s hospital.
The availability of effective and low cost medicines for the treatment of HIV/Aids in South Africa is only the tip of the ice berg. The staffing shortages threaten to affect not only the ability to deliver services, but also the quality of the services the people of South Africa receive.
Cape Town, South Africa is indeed one of the most beautiful topographical settings I have ever visited. Behind me, just out of the kitchen window sits Table Mountain. The mountain, the coast, the gardens – they are each just a bit more striking than I had anticipated.
A second expectation I had on arriving in Cape Town was that health conversations would be all about HIV/AIDS and how best to contain the epidemic through distribution of anti-retroviral and advocacy for behavior change.
On September 1, just a week after my arrival the Weekend Argus Newspaper of Cape Town published an article titled, “Health staffing crisis ‘wrecking the Aids [sic] battle.’”
The article focuses on a recent meeting to discuss the crisis of human resources held recently in Johannesburg. “The government needs to hire an extra 1,000 doctors, 3,000 professional nurses and 700 pharmacists by next year to successfully deliver anti-retroviral medicines to millions of HIV-positive South Africans using public health care.”
The gaps in the public health system are not lack of medicines or even the high cost of the treatment. The 80% of the population who receive health care through the public health care system must cope with understaffing of public health facilities estimated to be between 30 and 50 %.
Reasons for the staffing shortage include the migration of doctors and nurses to the UK and to Canada, the flat budget of the public health system during the past ten years and the huge increase in care needs due to rapidly increasing rates of HIV/Aids [sic].
A follow-up article appeared on September 5, indicates that staffing shortages are not only affecting the public health system, but also major tertiary hospitals such as Groote Schuur, Tygerberg and the Red Cross Children’s hospital.
The availability of effective and low cost medicines for the treatment of HIV/Aids in South Africa is only the tip of the ice berg. The staffing shortages threaten to affect not only the ability to deliver services, but also the quality of the services the people of South Africa receive.
1 comment:
Hi,
Nice post . Its really gud.
Staffing
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