Clinic brings relief to 13000 strong rural community
President Zuma appealed to the business sector to continue helping rural people as they were previously ignored.
About 5000 residents of Manxili, in Northern KwaZulu, attended the official opening of the Manxili clinic by President Jacob Zuma on Saturday in Qhudeni.
The clinic was built in partnership with the Department of Health and the Thobeka Madiba Zuma Foundation. The facility is the first integrated TB and HIV clinic in deep rural KwaZulu-Natal.
Manxili Clinic will bring much-needed relief to the 13 000-strong rural community, as residents previously had to wait for a mobile clinic to visit the area once a month to access healthcare services.
The only other option for local residents was to travel nearly 10km to Mangeni Clinic, mostly on foot.
“The clinic will enhance government’s efforts to fight the burden of disease, which includes the spread of HIV/Aids, TB infections, and mother and child mortality and morbidity in the Umzinyathi District,” said Thobeka Madiba, President Zuma’s third wife.
She criticised nurses who victimise patients and she also appealed to patients to work together with nurses. The MEC for Health in KZN, Sibongiseni Dhlomo, said his department, together with national government, had spent R16 million on the clinic while the. Thobeka Madiba Foundation, with the help of the SANOFI, donated R2 million.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla, appealed to the residents of Manxili to take care of the clinic. Mr Phaahla pledged to ensure that the clinic complied with the Operation Phakisa model requirements, including cleanliness, infection control, reducing long queues, availability of medicines and other essentials, security and safety of staff and patients, and a ‘positive attitude of staff’.
Manxili Clinic provides, among other health services, ante-natal care to pregnant mothers, cervical cancer and TB screenings, and HIV testing and counselling.
President Jacob Zuma apologised to the community for arriving late claiming he had to first attend another meeting. When he arrived in an army helicopter, people screamed and MEC Dhlomo had to asked the crowd to sing for Zuma.
President Zuma appealed to the business sector to continue helping rural people as they were previously ignored.
See photos below:
