MBOMBELA – Mpumalanga premier Mr David Mabuza wants to send students to Puglia in Italy to study medicine. Mabuza has invited doctors from this European town to come and practise here in an attempt to alleviate the shortage of doctors in the province.
The premier is currently in Europe, with MECs for the Department of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Eric Kholwane, that of health, Mr Gillion Mashego, and Mr Andries Gamede of agriculture, rural development and land administration.
“We have a shortage of doctors in our hospitals and I have no doubt that Puglia, which produces around 350 doctors per year, can send some of theirs to come and assist us in our hospitals,” Mabuza said.
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The delegation also visited a public-private partnership hospital, Muilli, one of the best in the region of Bari, which has state-of-the-art equipment. Mabuza said Mpumalanga’s government would carefully study how this partnership was formed and what made it such a successful model.
He admitted that the issue of proper and efficient storage of patient records was a serious concern. “Medical records get last all the time because we are using the old dysfunctional method of keeping files. Officials are forced to open new files each time the old one has been lost and doctors cannot keep up with the medical history of the patient. It makes their work very difficult.
“We could also be found not to be complying with rules and regulations of keeping patient medical records for a specified period,” Mabuza said. The premier signed a bilateral agreement with the governor of Puglia, Mr Nichi Vendola, which would see cooperation between the two provinces in areas of tertiary education, land and water management, agriculture, nature conservation, and health and education.
Vendola added that Puglia was ready to help this province with issues of water management and environmental protection. “We hope Mpumalanga will not make the same mistakes we made in Italy in the past by focusing too much on development, ignoring nature conservation. We are now paying the price for neglecting the environment. We think you and your province can learn a lot from us in water management and nature conservation especially because we have no rivers running through some parts our province, yet we have learnt how to conserve water,” Vendola said.
Gamede also signed an agreement with the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies. This agreement will lead to cooperation between Mpumalanga’s department of agriculture and the centre in the areas of food security, rural development and agriculture in general. The province will send graduates to do their master’s degrees in scientific research on agriculture.
“We are impressed with the work of the centre especially in areas of education, technical training, scientific research, food security, women and rural development. These issues resonate with our needs and challenges as a young democracy,” Mabuza said. Dr Cosimo Laciirignola of the centre assured Mabuza that it was prepared to assist the province through agricultural skills development, knowledge management and information sharing. He added that South Africa was a key player in the African region and therefore working with Mpumalanga would assist them in reaching other African countries neighbouring South Africa.
