19 May 2006
Honourable MECs
Distinguished participants
On behalf of the Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang I would like to thank all participants, including Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament and NCOP, MECs, councillors, traditional leaders, representatives of the civil society including NGOs and CBOs, organised labour, traditional healers, academics and researchers, government officials.
I would like to thank the Minister in absentia for the leadership she has given in establishing this forum. Also I would like to congratulate the Director-General and the organising committee for the job well done.
As we depart today, we need to recognise and acknowledge the importance of dialogue among various sectors to strengthen democracy especially on health issues as it affect all citizens of this country. Perhaps we don’t acknowledge the successes of the country and the commitment of government in delivering services to our people. The past few years has seen so many successes in the health sector such as the unification, integration and transformation of different health services, the move from a curative to a preventive health system and the building of a district health system.
The challenges we are dealing with as the country, such as migration, are not unique. Many developed and developing countries have their own problems. With the development of programmes and plans such as the Human Resource Plan, which is one of our top priorities, are some of the corrective measures that we are implementing to ensure that we deliver best services to our people while looking after the well being of our health personnel. Our duty now as the Department of Health, is to ensure that what we have achieved in these two days, filter through our National Health Council led by the Minister.
Our people need us. Our success lies in pulling together.
I wish you all a safe journey back home.