Chair, this amending Bill brings many necessary and timely changes to the Mental Health Act of 2002. The delegation of powers by the director-general to officials in the national Department of Health is very welcome, and it is hoped that these officials will carry out their new responsibilities with zeal and devotion so that service delivery to our mentally ill will be greatly enhanced and improved. Effective administration and expeditious health care service delivery must remain the core business of the department and the Bill speaks to both of those issues. The IFP therefore supports the Bill.
Yet, mental health care extends beyond the seriously mentally ill patients at our various institutions to ordinary healthy citizens as well. There is a general trend developing in South Africa and the world at large that by taking a pill all of one's problems will be solved. We have pills to wake us up, pills to help us make it through the day, pills for anxiety, pills for depression, pills to eat, pills to prevent us from eating, and pills to help us sleep.
This daily cocktail of drugs is creating a society dependent on its daily drug fix in order to function. This, I submit, is highly dysfunctional and unhealthy. What happened to eating correctly and getting enough fresh air and exercise as general tonics for optimum physical and mental wellness? These are the disciplines that must be inculcated into our communities.
The increased use of stimulants and cognition-enhancing drugs by students has also raised a number of safety concerns, the most worrisome being direct physiological side effects, as well as the possibility that the use of these may become habit-forming. We as a society must address these dangerous trends that are developing.
March is intellectual disability awareness month in South Africa. This disability is said to affect four out of 100 individuals in this country and can happen to any one of us. Prevention is paramount and we would like to see greater departmental awareness campaigns being conducted in our rural communities which educate our young people. Parents could potentially cause permanent damage to an unborn child through using alcohol and drugs during pregnancy.
Programmes must be developed for our schools which provide our youth with basic information on intellectual disability in the hope of reducing the stigma and discrimination attached to it, as well as informing them about lifestyle choices which help to prevent intellectual disability. The aim must be to use the youth as a catalyst for change, encouraging them to pass this information on to their peers, family members and the community at large. I thank you.