The true greatness of a person is measured by the impact that person has on the lives of others. This statement rings true for the Minister of Health Dr Mantombazana Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang who has touched the lives of many in different ways.The true greatness of a person is measured by the impact that person has on the lives of others. This statement rings true for the Minister of Health Dr Mantombazana Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang who has touched the lives of many in different ways.
In a country marked by a high burden of diseases, inequality and abject poverty, to succeed in ensuring that all people have access to quality health care requires nothing less than absolute devotion and loyalty to serve one’s country.
Such is the profound devotion that the Minister of Health has shown in her efforts to improve the lives of people.
Born in Emfume south coast of Durban on the 9th of October 1940, the young Manto completed her high school education at Inanda Seminary School in 1959.
In 1962, shortly after the African National Congress was banned, a young and eager Manto after completing her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Fort Hare was ordered with a group of 27 other spirited students to go into exile by the ANC leadership. She was in exile for 28 years.
These students – which also included Thabo Mbeki – had been identified as future leaders of South Africa who would one day return triumphantly to the country of their birth. With their fists in the air, they fled the country under the guise of being members of a football team!
The young Manto and her comrades were arrested several times and thrown in jail before being flown into Tanganyika (now Tanzania) where she spent most of her years in exile.
What makes her story very special is that when she told her mother, prior to her departure, that she was to leave her homeland and go into exile, her mother implored: "Please do something for me if I should never see you again - become a medical doctor." A promise Dr Tshabalala-Msimang fulfilled under difficult conditions.
As fate would have it, the young Manto ended up in Russia where she completed her medical studies, hopeful that one day she would return to her family and country of her birth, to bring about prosperity, equality and freedom. She graduated from the First Leningrad Medical Institute.
The Minister still speaks Russian and Swahili fluently.
She spent time practicing medicine in various African countries – an experience that put her in touch with the real victims of poverty. This experience spurred her to further her education by gaining, amongst other qualifications, a Masters degree in Public Health from the University of Antwerpen in Belgium. As Registrar in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Section of the Muhimbili Hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam. Tanzania and as Medical Superintendent of the Lobatse Hospital in Botswana.
She is one of the founder members of the ANC Health Department, which was established in 1977 and convened the First International Conference on Health and Apartheid - under the auspices of the World Health Organisation - in 1980.
She has been blessed with a stable and supportive family life – married to Mr Mendi Msimang, ANC Treasurer-General and former South African High Commissioner in London, and has two daughters – Zuki and Pulane – and two grandchildren – Khaya and Khethiwe.
On her return to South Africa in 1990, the Minister contributed a lot towards the National Progressive Primary Health Care Network by developing policies on health and also serving on various committees promoting health and gender issues.
Becoming a Member of Parliament following the historic elections of 1994, she chaired the Portfolio Committee on Health in the National Assembly. Her appointment as Deputy Minister of Justice followed in 1996. This is where she made her mark during her many fights for the rights of women and children in the criminal justice system.
On the 17th of June 1999, she was appointed Minister of Health – the culmination of an interesting life spent in service of healing. This is where she was to fight the greatest fight of her life – having to endure a love-and-hate relationship with the media as she tried to reshape the unequal and fragmented South African health care system.
The Department of Health, led by the Minister, promulgated a number of progressive legislations aimed at providing a policy framework for a universal access to quality health care. This was also to end racial segregation in hospitals and address the shortage of skilled health professionals in rural areas.
Her mission was to give the public health care sector a complete face-lift. Through the Hospital Revitalisation Programme, 30 hospitals have been renovated and more than 1 300 clinics built to improve access to health care. Improvements in hospital management have also been facilitated.
In an effort to recruit and retain health workers in the public health sector, especially in rural and underserved areas, the Department has entered into a number of international agreements with overseas countries. The Department is finalising the Human Resources Plan. In the meantime, there are a number of interventions underway.
It is well documented that while trying to improve the lives of people, the Minister has won and lost some of these battles.
The Minister has experienced much resistance from the Pharmaceutical Industry with regard to the implementation of the Medicines Act, which seeks to increase access to affordable and quality medicine. However, compromise is not an option as the lives of millions of South Africans is dependant on improved access to affordable medicine.
The much-contested issue has always been the response to HIV and AIDS. While the Department of Health and the Minister were busy addressing the inherent lack of capacity in the public sector and reducing the prices of drugs, her rivals insisted on the immediate implementation of anti-retroviral treatment.
She is currently leading the department on a massive public health awareness campaign aimed at addressing lifestyles that undermine health.
The healthy lifestyle campaign aims to reduce communicable and non- communicable diseases as well as non-natural causes of death. It encourages good nutrition, regular physical activity, safe sexual behaviour and tobacco control. It also addresses the challenge of alcohol and substance abuse.
While some lobby groups in South Africa agitate and do not care to take time to acknowledge the many efforts that the Minister and the Department of Health have made to transform the health care sector, the international community continues to sing her praises.
The Minister received an award from World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2004 for her commitment and delivery on Inter-country and Cross-Border collaboration on malaria.
In addition to all the accolades she has received thus far as Minister of Health, the Medical Education for South African Blacks honoured her in 2005 for her contribution to health care delivery in South Africa.
Much to the Treatment Action Campaign’s anger, the Minister of Health was also honoured by the National AIDS Trust Fund on 01 October 2005 for the work she has done in the prevention, care and treatment of HIV and AIDS.
She drove the drafting of the Comprehensive Plan for the Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS. It is the most comprehensive response encompassing prevention and strengthening of health system.
For the first time people with HIV and AIDS have a right to choose from a number of services including nutrition support, food supplements, treatment of opportunistic infection, traditional medicine and anti-retroviral therapy.
Such is the essence of true greatness.
A greatness that comes from understanding the complexities of the human condition; a greatness that rests in the humility of touching a human being from the moment of birth to the final departing breath and a greatness that consistently strives to make quality of life possible for every one of her people.
Issued by: Ministry of Health
30 September 2005