MINISTER AND DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH TO VISIT THE MPUMALANGA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

MINISTER AND DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH TO VISIT THE MPUMALANGA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH  

The Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Joe Phaahla will visit the Mpumalanga Province on a two days tour starting on Thursday the 14^th of August to Friday the 15^th of August 2014. The aim of the Deputy Minister’s visit is to get first hand information on the status of health services in the province and to familiarize himself with health facilities in and around the Mbombela Local Municipality.

The Deputy Minister will arrive on Thursday the 14^th of August 2014 and will commence his visit by meeting with the MEC for Health, Gillion Mashego and his management. During the meeting the Deputy Minister will be briefed on amongst others, Primary Health Care, Hospital Services, the state of finances, health infrastructure and human resource provision in the department. The meeting will take place at the Mpumalanga Provincial Government.

On the following day, the 15^th of August 2014, the Deputy Minister and MEC Mashego will embark on a visit to various health facilities around the Mbombela Local Municipality. The two dignitaries will first visit clinics in Pienaar near Msogwaba, Kanyamazane and close their tour with a visit to Rob Ferreira hospital.

MEC Mashego will on the subsequent week on Tuesday the 19^th of August 2014, host the Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in Mbombela. The Minister will be visiting the province to officially launch the 500 days count down on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4, 5 and 6 which include child mortality, maternal mortality, the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria and the implementation of National Health Insurance.

The Minister will also introduce the new initiative MOMCONNECT programme which uses SMS text messages to remind pregnant women of critical appointments for tests and check-ups, and to deliver health and childcare information. The messages arrive weekly through pregnancy and beyond, until the baby is eighteen months old. The goal is to improve the overall quality of care for mothers and babies.