Health department lauds two award-winning EC rural doctors
THE provincial health department extends a message of congratulations to the two Eastern Cape health professionals who were recognised at the recent national Rural Health Awards.
Dr Nomlindo Makubalo, district clinical specialist, paediatrics, won the rural doctor of the year award for the work she does in the province and the Nelson Mandela Bay area. Lineo Lecheko, an audiologist at Mqanduli’s Zithulele Hospital, scooped the rural rehabilitation person of the year award at the Rural Doctor’s Association of South Africa (Rudasa) conference held in Grahamstown at the start of the month.
Provincial health department MEC Dr Pumza Dyantyi congratulates the two young doctors who dedicated their lives to ensure quality health services in the province, especially in the rural areas.
Our health personnel work under difficult conditions which the department continues to make an effort to improve. This is a big achievement for our province because the terrain in rural areas often chases away young and energetic health professionals.
Those living in rural areas are the most vulnerable and are subjected to serious health challenges, which include access to specialist care and specialists such as Makubalo and Lecheko are bridging the gap.
The department is currently on a mission to strengthen primary healthcare through the introduction of school health to deal with specific community health issues to ensure that we promote preventative health services, as opposed to the expensive curative health approach – we want to prevent people from acquiring lifestyle diseases.
The department appeals to young doctors to remain in the province – we have retainment packages designed to attract scarce skills to the province as well as registrar programmes to increase the number of specialists in the province. — Sizwe Kupelo, provincial government spokesman but not the amount there currently. Would the newly elected BCMM please attend to this as the Boardwalk is popular for visitors, and bird and whale watching. — Theodora Goddin, Berea Zandile Sigcawu, who had been appointed MMC for corporate services. We believe she will be biased to the workers in general, not only limiting herself to her former trade union members as the former MMC for corporate services did. She always left the LLF meetings in disarray because of her bias.
Rise to the occasion MaZandi. We trust you indeed.
Congratulations and we must meet on the ground with a common purpose of delivering services to our people.
We love all of you and we hope you love all of us. — Phendule Mbewu, IMATU chairperson, O R Tambo Branch rubbish out of them? I can’t.
A good proportion of them are now lying on their side, knocked over by trucks, never to be righted again.
So there they sit, a big, ugly, grey, block of concrete – something to walk into, something to walk around when one is busy checking the cars before crossing the road.
As a design there is nothing wrong with the green ones seen in and around town, they are cheap to procure, cheap to install and cheap to replace.
Please mister mayor you seem to be doing a fine job since you arrived with many other things – painting white lines, replacing broken drains, obtaining mechanical street sweepers, fixing thousands of potholes.
So can you find the time to get these eyesores removed?
Hopefully I will be able to write a letter of thanks in a month or so. — David Edwards, via e-mail why the students – the future of our nation – had to cross a national road in order to buy food.
I travel that dangerous road almost every day and have had quite a few misses bumping into students.
The only deduction I can make is that our councillors do not care about WSU students. Perhaps they are waiting for a death to happen before they react. What on earth has happened to pro-activeness?
I, as a South African, demand that a foot bridge be build now! I am sick and tired of your callousness towards our students!
Whoever is responsible. I don’t care. Please construct the bridge as soon as possible. — Dr Francis Sonn, WSU, Mthatha