COURT BATTLE DELAYS CANCER TREATMENT FOR THOUSANDS AS HEALTH DEPARTMENT FACES CRITICISM

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Wed 24 July 2024:

Gauteng – The Cancer Alliance, Section 27, and the Treatment Action Campaign have sued the Gauteng Health Department for failing to use and prevent the misallocation of an R784 million budget intended to address the backlog in radiation and surgical treatment for cancer patients in the province.

The interdict, filed with a sense of urgency, aims to ensure that the funds, which were allocated last year, are used effectively to provide timely and sufficient care for approximately 3,000 cancer patients.

DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom criticised the health department for its incompetence and negligence, stressing that the lack of action is causing unnecessary suffering and death. Now that the matter is in court, it is causing further delays for people needing treatment.

“I don’t know whether to attribute it purely to incompetence, malice, neglect, or arrogance—probably a mixture of all these factors. At the end of the day, patients are suffering, and patients are losing their lives.”

“Meanwhile, this has ended up in court, which is just a terrible thing. Surely, this could have been sorted out with open consultation between all the parties beforehand.”

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Fears of Potential Corruption Over Budget

According to Bloom, only a small portion of the money has been used since last year, with approximately R17 million spent on patient assessment and planning.

However, he believes an integrated contract with various private hospitals, including the purchasing of equipment, assessments, and treatments, could be a more effective use of the funds. This strategy would reduce the backlog and ensure that much less of the allocated budget is used.

“They need to contract with private hospitals because that’s the quickest way to do it. That was the indication. They contract private hospitals to do it from A to Z. They would assess and treat the patient.”

“I think if they did that, we would save many lives. Unfortunately, we already know of people who’ve fallen off the list because they’ve died.”

Another worrying concern is that because the money is not being used for its intended purpose, it becomes vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement. Bloom drew parallels between these funds and the COVID-19 emergency funds, which were mismanaged and subjected to corruption.

“We saw this during COVID-19. About R1.9 billion, a huge amount of money, was allocated for the medical emergency. Most of it was stolen due to PPE corruption and empty wards. Half a billion was spent on an abandoned hospital in the Far West Rand.”

“That’s what happened with the emergency money that was allocated for COVID-19. This was for another medical emergency. Cancer treatment is always a medical emergency. People need to get treated as soon as possible. Even a delay of several weeks can jeopardise your life.”

written by Thaabit Kamaar

This article originally published in Salaamedia Click here