Address by the Honourable Mr Seaparo Sekoati MEC for Health and Social Development in Limpopo at the Occasion of Graduation Ceremony for Primary Health Care Nurses.

Programme Director
Honourable Mayor of Nkowakowa
Head of Department
Head of Branch
District Managers
Chief Executive Officer
Senior Managers
Councilors
Graduates
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is important to remind ourselves that this graduation ceremony takes place at a moment when we celebrate the role women played in our country and the majority of those receiving the awards are women. We also want to encourage men to enroll in this programme.

The Health Department National Strategic Plan’s key priority is to restore the dignity of our people by improving the quality of Primary Health Care. This occasion serve as testimony and a step towards restoring that dignity and in so doing we are at the same time pushing the frontiers of ill-health and poverty in this province.

We are planning to expand this programme to intensify efforts to train as many Primary Health Care nurses as possible. Our next intake will be in Letaba Hospital and we are also in the process of opening Sekhukhuni and Waterburg Nursing campuses. Our goal is to have a trained Primary Health Care nurses in every clinic and health centre.

In congratulating you I would like to thank the tutors, family medicine doctors and nurses for the sterling work they have done in ensuring that you are well skilled and ready to do your work. The issue of remuneration or allowances for tutors has been raised with the department and is being attended to. Not forgetting the role played by the Nursing Directorate in our department.

I want to caution District Managers not to deploy these nurses in hospital wards. They are not trained for that and it will be a waist of resources and bad planning and mismanagement of our human resources. Their places are in the communities and let’s stick to that.

Coming back to you graduates, I want to remind you of the challenges you are facing. You are expected to be available 24 hours of every day and seven days a week. Out of a total number of patients in your communities, you will see 75%. With your presence in communities we expect the number of patients coming to the hospitals to reduce. You will be making home visit and in this way our goal of offering accessible health care to people will be achieved.

We expect you to work in collaboration with other community development workers in your communities. For each and every one of you to be where you are is through commitment, determination and continued motivation to achieve your goal of becoming Primary Health Care nurses. You are the backbone of our national heath care strategy and the custodians of PHC delivery in the communities.

I am confident that you will make your mark within this group by serving our communities with dignity and respect. Your skills as Primary Health Care givers will contribute significantly to our efforts to promote good health and manage various diseases affecting our communities.

We once more take the opportunity to congratulate you on your achievements and we look forward to your contribution in community upliftment.

Thank you