Department of Health - Western Cape South Africa

Department of Health - Western Cape South Africa

The Western Cape Department of Health offers patients appropriate, affordable health care services.

In order to improve the quality of health care for everyone in the Western Cape, the Department of Health has committed itself to a long-term strategic plan called Healthcare 2010. This plan aims to reshape public health services in the Western Cape to focus on primary-level services, community-based care and preventative care.

The Provincial Health Department is one of the largest departments in the province and receives 27,9% (R5,7bn) of the provincial budget. Many Western Cape citizens do not have health insurance and most people (66%) are clustered in the Cape Metropole (in and around Cape Town). There are approximately 12 million visits to Primary Health facilities in the province each year and approximately 2,5m in-patient days in our hospitals.

CURRENT CONCERNS

The province is currently experiencing a triple disease burden, namely

Infectious diseases, such as Tuberculosis and HIV and Aids;
Chronic diseases, such as Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Asthma and Mental Health and;
A high trauma and emergencies load.
FLAGSHIP PROJECTS

The Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) is one of the flagship programmes of the Western Cape. By March 2003 the Department of Health had achieved full roll-out of the programme to all 25 districts, and all pregnant women attending public-sector maternity services have access to the PMTCT programme.