THE South African Medical Association (SAMA) has called on the Department of Health to ensure the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare workers as they perform their duties in areas affected by violent protests.
The association said violent unrest and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gautenghas decimated hospitals and health services.
This follows reports that at least 90 pharmacies had been lost to looting.
SAMA called on the health department, police and military to protect medical staff as they try to deliver essential services.
“The violent nature of the protests, with attacks on among others delivery trucks and other essential service personnel, has raised critical concerns about the safety of healthcare workers as they travel and from hospitals to perform their duties,” said SAMA.
“The health sector has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 battle and has not had the luxury of being able to stay at home during lockdown.”
The association further said that the recent protests were placing health workers’ lives at risk at a time when they were working tirelessly to protect and save lives.
SAMA said the security of its members and other healthcare workers was of utmost importance, and the security measures must be put in place to ensure the safety of those who are duty bound to be on call.
In addition, SAMA said the provision of basic services to health institutions such as water, electricity, and medical gas must urgently be addressed to ensure continued service was provided to patients.
“Contingency plans for the airlifting and inter-facility transportation of patients must also be addressed to overcome the closure of roads as a result of the protests,” said SAMA.
SAMA has appealed to any of its members to contact it if they were in any situation in which they feel unsafe.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala confirmed on Tuesday that the vaccine rollout had ground to a halt due to the unrest. Damage to public and private infrastructure at that point was in the region of R1 billion.
“The current situation has a huge potential to undermine our advance in battling the delta variant of COVID-19, which is increasing at an uncontrollable rate across the entire province,” Zikalala said in a statement.
“A number of hospitals, community health centres and clinics across KwaZulu-Natal have been operating on skeletal staff, with many nurses, doctors, allied health workers and support staff, including general staff workers, unable to report for work.”
“Some clinics have had to be closed as a result of the unrest. Many hospitals with trauma cases are unable to undergo important operational interventions such as X-Rays, and others.”
- Inside Politics
