By OBAKENG MAJE
The community members across North West, especially in deep rural areas, continue to face variety of access barriers to healthcare services, which is critical to their good health. The North West Department of Health has received 55 graduates from the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Training Programme, which produced over 3000 medical doctors, who graduated from various Cuban universities and were largely employed in underserved communities.
The North West Health spokesperson, Tebogo Lekgethwane said: “We have received 55 graduates as the province. So, 26 students are doing internship in various healthcare facilities in other provinces, while 28 students are placed in the province. One student is still waiting for internship placement.
“The shortage of doctors is a reality for the whole country, especially in rural provinces. That is why in our province, one of the selection criteria is learning from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, who will be willing to go back and work in their communities.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said South Africa is amongst over 100 nations, which benefitted from social solidarity, excellent internationalism and medical cooperation with Cuba through medical doctors and specialists, which immensely contributed to the country`s health system strengthening and pandemic response.
Dhlomo further said, the country has also benefited from this impactful support since 1997 through both medical specialists, who have been seconded to the country and Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Training Programme.
“South Africa was one of the lucky nations to benefit through this global health cooperation, which complemented the country`s medical schools to produce the much needed medical specialists in quest of the government to address a shortage of doctors, especially the historically underserved areas.
“South Africa would not have benefited from this fruitful cooperation if it was not through the efforts by the globally admired revolutionary freedom fighters of the two countries, Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro, who believed that health is the biggest wealth anybody can have,” he said.
He added that having an educated and trained workforce is not sufficient, but physical and mental well-being are necessary for productivity. Dhlomo said most affected units are specialised medical units with skilled health professionals like general medical practitioners, registered nurses, hospital, and pharmacists mostly in short supply in the country and provinces.
TaungDailyNews 