President Ramaphosa To Sign Second Presidential Health Compact

President Ramaphosa is all set to officiate the signing of the second Presidential Health Compact on Thursday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

The signing will be held at the Union Buildings Courtyard, West Wing, in Pretoria at 12:30 pm. The Presidential Health Compact, started by Ramaphosa in 2019, is a cooperation framework involving key sectors in South Africa to improve health outcomes.

The Presidency said on Tuesday that the cooperation also helps track and evaluate the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders to strengthen health systems and prepare for the National Health Insurance (NHI) implementation, SA News reported.

The second compact follows the 2023 Presidential Health Summit. The 2023 summit brought together various groups, including government, businesses, labor unions, civil society, health professionals, service users, statutory councils, academia, and researchers.

They worked together to find sustainable and inclusive solutions to challenges in the national health system. These stakeholders are crucial in helping the Department of Health improve the health system. The framework originally had nine key pillars with a 10th pillar added during last year's summit.

These include the development of human resources, improving access to medicine, vaccines and health products, upgrading infrastructure, private sector engagement, quality healthcare, public sector financial management improvements, governance and leadership, community engagements, information systems and pandemic preparedness.

The signatories to the health compact include:

• The President of South Africa
• The Minister of Health
• The Minister of Science and Innovation
• Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA)
• South African National AIDS Council (SANAC)
• South African Medical Association Trade Union
• Democratic Nurses of South Africa
• Congress of South African Trade Unions
• Campaigning for Cancer - Patient User Groups
• South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)
• South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC)
• National Unitary Professional Association for African Traditional Health Practitioners of South Africa (NUPAATHPSA)
• Traditional Knowledge Systems and Allied Health

Earlier this week, Ramaphosa expressed his concern about how fast Mpox is spreading across the African Union (AU) region. Both the number of cases and deaths are rising quickly, showing a problematic change in the pattern of the outbreak.

The president said he fully supports the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (Africa CDC) decision to declare Mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security.