In February, the deaths of over 100 psychiatric patients grabbed headlines in South africa. are efforts being taken to ensure this does not happen, again?
It is one of South Africa’s greatest tragedies so far – the death of over 100 mentally-ill patients transferred out of a hospital to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) across the country.
The Life Esidimeni hospital had been contracted to the Gauteng government for nearly 40 years, but the former Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, terminated that contract, citing costs, only to result in the transfer, and subsequent death, of the psychiatric patients.
All the 27 NGOs that the patients were transferred to were unlicensed. It angered and shocked Africa.
“This is a provisional number because not all the information we could get from the NGOs was complete. I suspect the number is higher,” said Health Ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba, at a press briefing in Pretoria in February.
In October 2016, Mahlangu had said that in 2014/15, the department paid R323 million ($23.5 million) to Life Esidimeni to treat around 2,378 patients which was too expensive.
“At the time, Mahlangu said she was paying R10,000 per patient, that’s R329 a day at Esidimeni; moving them to NGOs means paying R100 a day. Let me ask you South Africans, what can you do with R100? You can never justify cost-cutting constitutionally if you have been tasked with basic care,” said Makgoba.
この記事は Forbes Woman Africa の April-May 2017 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は Forbes Woman Africa の April-May 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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