This is after the provincial Department of Health (DoH) officially opened Mpumalanga’s first oncology centre.
This new unit is housed at Rob Ferreira Hospital in the city. Speaking during the official launch on Thursday, the MEC for health in the province, Sasekani Manzini, said the unit will help ease the burden previously faced by thousands of patients who had to travel to Gauteng for medical care.
“Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally, with increasing numbers of people dying of cancer-related causes. In South Africa, deaths due to this disease represent approximately 9% of all deadly illnesses among adults.
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Access to healthcare is often associated with socio-economic status, insurance status and geographic location, with black Africans, poor, uninsured and rural residents experiencing the greatest barriers.
Efforts to restructure the public health sector post-1994 have yielded marked successes in achieving improved access to care, rationalising health systems, improved health outcome indicators and equitable healthcare expenditure,” she said.
The oncology unit was made possible a partnership the department has with Wits University. In 2018, the Mpumalanga DoH and Wits’ faculty of health sciences signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) committing to a progressive partnership for improved health services.
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Manzini said one of the priorities within this MoU was the provision of oncology services in the region.
“We will be the first ones to admit that more still needs to be done to improve access to specialist services in Mpumalanga, but we have turned the tide on the public health sector’s oncology in the province.
Building tertiary services in a rural province like ours requires patience and diligence. We can once more recommit to our people that the department is on track towards improving access to specialist services and returning back the dignity of our people.
Mpumalanga is still sending patients requiring radiation therapy to Steve Biko Academic Hospital, but we can report that plans to establish radiation oncology services are at an advanced stage and once this is established all patients will be diagnosed and treated in the province,” assured Manzini.
