Department of Health Quarter 1 performance

The Department of Health (DOH) presented the first quarter report on its performance and expenditure in implementing its six programmes, and indicated that there had been a general trend of under-spending. The e-health strategy had been revised, including the introduction of a new tradition where consultations would occur. The beneficiary registry had 2 994 facilities that were involved in the health patient registration system, and the DOH’s target at the end of the current financial year was to have 25 million South Africans registered on the beneficiary registry. These recipients could be followed with regard to where they were, and what services they were getting. To avoid people having to stand in long queues when they needed access to medicine, the Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) system had been introduced. This system allowed patients to collect their repeat prescriptions at pharmacies. A registrar had now been appointed with responsibility for traditional health practices in South Africa, who would drive the work of the Traditional Health Practitioners’ Council. A draft bill would go out for public comment, and thereafter go through the Cabinet process. To implement the combination of prevention and treatment in the programme dealing with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and maternal and child health, the annual target for the total number of clients on antiretrovirals (ARVs) was five million. By the first quarter, just over 4.2 million had been reached, but the Department expected to catch up in the second quarter. Other topics highlighted by the Department were the regulation of medicines through a single exit price, planning for the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, the collection of data on male circumcision, tracking down missing tuberculosis patients, the challenge of budget constraints in eliminating malaria, governance at primary health care (PHC) facilities, overcoming the shortages and lack of space at hospitals, impl