A silent revolution is taking shape in the primary healthcare front in the country and Alexandra has not been left on the peripheries.
This follows the launch of a network of Unjani Clinics which was conceptualised in 2010 and have since spread in the country like wildfire, with the 80th clinic being launched in Alexandra on 8 December although it opened its doors in August soon after the easing of the hard lockdown restrictions.
The network of clinics are meant to ease the burden on the already overstretched and understaffed public healthcare system while at the same time providing a measure of private healthcare at an affordable fee, said
Unjani Clinics CEO Lynda Toussaint in an interview with Alex News on the sidelines of the official launch.
“We decided to launch one clinic in Alex after a needs assessment which informed us that there was a great need of at least two facilities as the township is overcrowded and most of its residents live below the breadline.“
Most of the clinic facilities that are in the township are under-funded, overstretched and understaffed and can hardly cope with the pressure and demand for healthcare services,” said Toussaint, adding that at R200 consultation fee and medication was more than affordable.
The clinics are a non-profit company owned by women and funded through donor funds and the fee charged for serves to compliment what is provided by donors to ensure the network of clinics can effectively operate and also carry out its other mandate which is the job creation and empowerment of women.
One of the major funders of the clinics is a pharmaceuticals company based in the United States but with subsidiaries in other parts of the world and the South African network of clinics are supported by MSD South Africa.
The investment which MSD South Africa puts in allows the network to leverage further investment funding that enables it to transfer the business and skills associated with running the institution to local women who in turn create jobs by employing other staff in administration and security.
The clinics themselves are a concept that speaks to what the government endeavours to achieve with the National Health Insurance and are run by a professional nurse turned entrepreneur and this is where the empowerment and entrepreneurship aspect comes in, said Neren Rau, a director of policy and communications at MSD South Africa.
Tumelo Mogula, a professional nurse who runs the Alex outlet from the Alex Plaza, said the clinics run partly as a referral for cases that are beyond their scope.
“We are mainly a primary healthcare outlet whose bouquet of services include minor ailments, STIs, wound care, family planning, HIV testing and counselling, wellness screenings, BP, cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, antenatal care and postnatal care as well,” Mogula said.
