Health MEC calls for decolonised education
THE PRIVATE health sector cannot turn a blind eye to the calls for decolonised education by student protesters, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said.
Mbombo was speaking at the official opening of the Melomed Hospital in Tokai on Tuesday night.
She said she sided with protesting students calling for free education, but did not condone the violence perpetuated by a frustrated few.
Mbombo told private health sector stakeholders that scrutinising the information and treatment methods employed by medical students was required to pave a way forward to decolonising and reconstructing the way medical professionals practised their trade.
“Like many of the children protesting at university campuses, I too come from a modest household with few means. I too took part in protests for equitable access to education. Some may say it was a different time then, but the principles remain the same. This is not how things should be.”
Last week, UCT announced that third year students studying health sciences would only continue with the academic programme in January as a result of ongoing protest action. Students were free to return home.
Mbombo said it could not be accepted that two decades after the dawn of democracy, access to higher education was attainable only to those who could afford it.
Mbombo mentioned that in the Western Cape, much like other provinces, there were inequalities between rural and urban areas. In that vein, she urged the private health sector to expand into rural areas where hospitals are in demand.
The Western Cape has 244 private health care facilities, which has grown by 34 in the past year, said Mbombo.
The Melomed facility, which has a first of its kind Catheterisation Laboratory and Heart Centre for the surrounding areas, took eight years of planning and R400 million to build. It had been operational for five months and had created more than 2 000 jobs during and after construction.
It has a complement of 148 beds, including 35 adult medical beds, 15 psychiatric beds, 22 surgical beds, a combined 30-bed Intensive Care Unit, a 10-bed high care unit, five neonatal ICU beds and 20 paediatric beds.