NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 1060
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 MAY 2013
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 16)
Mrs S P Kopane (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:
What additional (a) financial, (b) human or (c) equipment resources will
his department allocate to reduce the stagnant neonatal mortality rate?
NW1291E
REPLY:
(a)-(c) The Department of Health has put in place several interventions
to reduce neonatal mortality.
Firstly, a Ministerial Committee to review neonatal mortality and to
advise the Minister on the major causes of mortality as well as to
recommend specific interventions to reduce mortality. The
recommendations from the latest report of this committee have been
shared with all hospital CEOs as well as members of the District
Clinical Specialist Teams.
Secondly, as part of the re-engineering of primary health care,
District Clinical Specialist Teams (DCSTs) have been appointed in
most districts. At present 174 members of these teams have been
appointed nationally. The role of the DCSTs is to strengthen clinical
governance in each district with specific reference to maternal and
child health outcomes as well as HIV and TB. The DCSTs are working
with primary health care facilities as well as hospitals to
strengthen the quality of work â which will include strengthening the
use of guidelines and protocols in health facilities, training health
providers and attending morbidity and mortality review meetings at
facilities.
Thirdly, the Department has additional financial and technical
resources through UK Development AID to strengthen maternal and child
health in 25 of the worst performing districts. Their support focuses
on strengthening systems as well as clinical care through mentorship
and training, working in close collaboration with the district
management teams, hospital CEOs as well as the district clinical
specialist teams.
END.