Somlomo, Mongameli, Phini likaMongameli namalungu ahloniphekile kanye nezivakashi ezikhona lapha ... [Speaker, President, Deputy President, hon members and all our visitors ...]
... before I start my speech, I would like to know from the opposition if they really loved Madiba or if they are just politicking by using Madiba, because they didn't love Madiba whilst he was here. So, they must tell us. Did they or do they love Madiba? [Applause.]
I shall speak on health as a constitutional right as well as one of the priorities of government this term. In his first state of the nation address, the President referred to issues of quality. I quote:
We are seriously concerned about the deterioration of the quality of health care, aggravated by the steady increase in the burden of disease in the past decade and a half.
Mongameli, make ngincome ukuthi uthe uma ungena wangena nenkunzimalanga yohlelo lokubhekelelwa kweNgculazi. Ngakho-ke lolu hlelo lusijabulise kabi. Empeleni sijabule kakhulu ngoba njengamanje izinga lokutheleleka kwabantwana lehlile, izinga lempilo likhuphukile lafinyelela eminyakeni engama-60. Abantu bayasebenza, abasaphuthi emsebenzini. Lehlile nenani lemithi. Njengamanje, sijabula kakhulu ukuthi sekunephilisi elilodwa eliwushanguzo weSandulela-Ngculazi abantu asebeqalile ukuwudla, labo abaqale ngoMbasa. Kusho ukuthi kancane kancane bayoze bagcine bonke sebewutholile. [Ihlombe.]
Bese sikhuluma ngesifo sofuba, i-TB, siyazi ukuthi isiphucukile kakhulu indlela okubhekwa ngayo ukuthi abantu banaso yini le sifo. Sekutholakala ngamahora amabili ukuthi banaso yini isifo. Okwesibili, abantu abane-TB futhi baneNgculazi, betholakala bene-CD4 count ephansi balashwa kanyekanye i-TB neNgculazi ukuze kwelapheke kokubili.
Amawadi e-TB asekhona akhiwe, ashaya umoya kahle ukuze abantu bakwazi ukuthola umoya kahle. Okusithokozisa kakhulu ukuthi... (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[President, I wish to commend you on the HIV/Aids programme you introduced when you assumed power. We were indeed very pleased. What makes us even happier now is that the rate of mother-to-child transmissions has decreased and life expectancy has increased to the age of 60. People are back at work and the rate of absenteeism has decreased. Even the amount of antiretroviral medication to be used has decreased. We are very happy that HIV/Aids sufferers can now take only one pill. Some of them started using it in April. That is a clear indication that it will eventually be available to all of them. [Applause.]
Next we have to talk about TB. We all know how sophisticated the diagnosis of the disease has become. The results are now available in two hours. Second, patients who are infected with both TB and HIV/Aids and are found to have a low CD4 count are treated for both infections.
Suitable and well ventilated TB wards have now been constructed; TB patients now obtain enough air. What we are most happy about is that ...]
... people who had MDR TB got well and were discharged. [Applause.]
Okusijabulisa kakhulu ukuthi i-World Health Organisation ijabula kabi ngendlela esenza ngayo. Okunye okusijabulisayo ukuthi ngokusebenza kuka- Sanac sesiyazi ukuthi izifundazwe zisebenza kanzima kodwa kukhona ezisebenza kanzima kunezinye yize noma zonke zisebenza. Njengamanje i-KwaZulu-Natali, i-Gauteng, i-Eastern Cape impela ziza kahle kakhulu. Ngokuxoxa nomphakathi nokwethula kule Ndlu yesiShayamthetho ukuthi abantu abavele phela ukuthi bahlolelwe iNgculazi ukuze bakwazi futhi nokuthi balulekwe. Izigidi eziyi-15 zabantu zihloliwe. Namhlanje sekuyizigidi eziyi-20 zabantu ezihloliwe eNingizimu Afrika esezizazi ukuthi zinengculazi. [Ihlombe.] Isigidi esiyi-1,6 sabantu sesithola ama-ARV. Izindawo lezi okutholakala khona ama-ARV zikhuphukile seziyizinkulungwane ezi-3 ngoMbasa wezi-2012. [Ihlombe.] Abahlengikazi sebevumelekile ukuthi bangaqala ukunikeza ama-ARV ngaphandle kokuyalelwa ngudokotela. Siyakuncoma ke loko ngoba sesinabahlengikazi abayizinkulungwane eziyi-10 kusukela ngoMbasa wonyaka odlule. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[What pleases us most is that the World Health Organisation is very pleased with our progress. We are also happy about the work that Sanac is doing; it indicates to us how hard different provinces are working. Some of them are doing a much better job than others.
At the moment, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape are at the top of the list. Communities are consulted and presentations to the National Assembly are made in order to encourage communities to get tested for HIV/Aids so that they will receive the necessary counselling. fifteen million people have been tested. As we speak, 20 million South Africans have been tested and they now know their HIV/Aids status. [Applause.] A total of 1,6 million infected people are on ARVs. ARV distribution centres have increased to 3 million up to April 2012. [Applause.] Nurses are now permitted to dispense ARVs without a doctor's instruction. We commend that because we have had 10 thousand nurses since April last year.] For a long time the health care service had been commodified, but you came up with the suggestion of the NHI. So, the implementation of the NHI is undoing this sordid practice, in which health has been commodified. Due to the vastness of the country, it was not possible to run a pilot across the country, and regions had to be designated so that the districts in the regions could be followed up with and the NHI could be piloted. As we speak, there are 10 pilot sites, 2 for KwaZulu-Natal because it has a high preponderance of HIV and Aids, but on its own it decided to have a third site.
I-NHI isiqaliwe ngoMbasa wezi-2013, bonke abelaphi abafunekayo sebekhona nodokotela sebekhona sesenza njengalabo baseNgilandi kwi-National Health system lapho yonke into ye-NHI yenziwa ngodokotela. Siyakuncoma-ke ukuthi loko sekwenzeka ngale ndlela okwenzeka ngayo. [Ihlombe.] Okwesibili, abantu sebezokwazi ukuthola usizo eduzane kwalapho behlala khona. Okwesithathu, abantu labo abafuna ukubonwa ngodokotela sebezobabona vele ezindaweni abakuzo nokuthi i-primary health care sesizoyigqugquzela ngoba abantu sebezothola ukwelulekwa bakwazi ukusizakala nokuvikela izimpilo zabo ukuze izifo lezi ezihluphayo ama-NCD zithi ukwehla. [Ihlombe.]
Siselapho-ke Mongameli, sizosho sithi nje... (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[The NHI Programme was piloted in April 2013 and all health professionals and doctors have been organised. We have copied the NHI system used in England, which is managed by doctors. We are very pleased with our progress. [Applause.] Second, people will receive health care close to where they live. Third, doctors will be available to see their patients right where they live. We will also encourage primary health care where the public will receive counselling and so protect themselves from NCD diseases and their rate will consequently decrease. [Applause.]
Speaking of that, President, we would like to say ...]
... there are recipes for the NHI: firstly, the improvement of infrastructure; secondly, the planning, development and management of human resources for health; thirdly, the quality of care in our public health institutions; fourthly, the re-engineering of primary health care; and fifthly, the cost of health care in our country, where people will not be paying for the health services that they get, but the state will pay for that. They will be treated wherever they are.
Ngisho umuntu angabanjwa yisifo senhliziyo eceleni kwesibhedlela i-Chris Barnard uzokuthola ukwelashwa e-Chris Barnard, bese eyiswa endaweni lapho bebona ukuthi kufanele aye khona. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Even when someone has a heart attack around the Chris Barnard Hospital they will be treated there and then transferred to another health care facility.]
We need a lot of skills, particularly doctors. At the moment we have 40 more doctors trained at Wits University, and two universities will also train doctors, nurses and other allied workers. Right now, there is the refurbishment and equipping of nursing colleges. To date, over 70 colleges and schools are being refurbished. These include 11 in the Eastern Cape; 4 in the Free State; 15 in Gauteng; 12 in KwaZulu-Natal; 6 in Limpopo; 4 in Mpumalanga; and 1 in the Northern Cape. [Applause.]
Sizophinda-ke Mongameli sithi siyaziqhayisa impela ngomsebenzi osuwenzile kule sikhashana ukhona ngoba iwadi yabantwana ababenesifo sohudo bephethwe yi-pneumonia ivaliwe ngoba sebephilile. EMpangeni le wadi isinezinyanga ezintathu ivaliwe bese kuthi eGoli izinga nakhona selehlile kakhulu. [Ihlombe.] Siyajabula ukuthi sekuzoqala ukuthi abantwana bathole imithi ezobavikela ekutheni babe nomdlavuza womlomo wesibeletho okuyiwona ohluphayo uma abantu sebekhulile ngoba uyingxenye ye-NCD.
Siyaphinda siyamemezela ukuthi abantu abaqaphele indlela abaphila ngayo njengalokhu washo uMongameli ukuthi abantu mabazivocavoce, bangabi nomzimba omkhulu ... [Uhleko.] ... bangadephi baze babe bakhulu kakhulu. Lokhu kusiza ukuthi bangaficwa isifo sikashukela nesomfutho wegazi ophezulu. Le zifo esithi "izifo zami," sekwaba ukufa kwami.
Siyakuncoma-ke lokho, ukuthi ngesikhathi sakho, sinezinto eziningi esiziqhenya nesiziqhayisa ngazo ezithuthukise impilo yaba ngcono kodwa kusekuningi okufuneka kwenziwe. Siyakuncoma kakhulu lokho Mongameli.
Ngiyabonga Somlomo, ngiyethemba ukuthi laba abangaphesheya abazolokhu besikhohlisa ngoMadiba ngoba vele babengamfuni. Abangashayi sengathi bayamthanda manje ngoba sesiya okhethweni. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[We will repeat that we are proud of the work that you have done, President, in such a short space of time. The ward for children with cholera and pneumonia was closed because they are now well again. It happened three months ago at Empangeni. In Johannesburg the rate has also decreased. [Applause.] We are also pleased with the fact that children will also be given a vaccine against cervical cancer since it is part of the NCD programme. A large number of women suffer from this type of cancer.
Again, we wish to encourage everyone to live healthily as the President said that we should all exercise and get rid of excess weight ... [Laughter.] They should not allow themselves to be overweight. This helps to prevent diabetes and high blood pressure. These are diseases that we usually refer to as "my sickness, it has become a normal part of my life".
We commend that in your time, there are a number of things that you have achieved and that we are so proud of. You have improved the lives of many but there is still much to be done. We are so pleased with that, President.
Thank you, Speaker. I hope that the opposition will not continue pretending that they liked Madiba when he was our President when they actually did not. They should not pretend that they like him now just because we are preparing for elections. [Applause.]]