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South Africa is upgrading its health facilities
Health and medical services
The minister of health committed to FIFA that the infrastructure of the South African National Health System, specifically a comprehensive medical service (including 24-hour emergency medical treatment) and disaster management, would be put at the disposal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in the host cities.
As part of this guarantee, government committed that "the existing health infrastructure will be significantly upgraded in keeping with the government's mission to promote the health of all people of South Africa and to provide caring and effective services".
During the World Cup, the National Health Operations Centre (Nathoc) will link to all nine provinces, ensuring real-time monitoring, collating and reporting on the roll-out of the health plan, including incident reports using sophisticated ICT systems that boast an online system for all official venues and radio linkages.
Medical services
Free primary healthcare will be provided for all spectators at official venues, including a script or referral to a health facility if necessary. However, any investigations, procedures or admissions will be paid by the patient.
Dispensing machines will be situated throughout the stadiums for basic drug purchases. Twenty-four-hour pharmacies will be in place for the duration of the event.
The Department of Health is involved in the planning of new stadiums and the refurbishment of existing ones to ensure they meet health and medical services requirements. All stadiums will include fully equipped medical centres, medical posts for primary healthcare, as well as visible health personnel within the stadium and stadium precinct. Such provisions will also be in place in fan parks and other official World Cup-related venues as required.
The environmental health of venues will be assured, including stadiums, hotels, official venues and fan parks. This will include food standards, sufficient and safe water, sanitation and waste management. Compliance with legislation and local and international health regulations by visitors entering the country will be controlled at all ports of entry, both by air, land and sea.
In addition to surveillance measures for local disease outbreaks, there is also an international surveillance system, given the numerous origins of the many thousands of visitors that South Africa is expecting.
Health promotion
Government will communicate on an ongoing basis with visitors to keep them informed of health requirements and conditions, to encourage visitors to act responsibly and stay healthy.
Licensing of medical personnel
Government has made special provisions for the licensing of medical and allied health professionals with foreign qualifications, and exemption for certain medical equipment and pharmaceuticals to be brought into the country - so players can be kept at their peak during the World Cup.
Investment in emergency medical services
The Department of Health has embarked on a major project, the National Emergency Medical Services Strategic Framework (NESF), for the enhancement of emergency medical services (EMS) over the next five years. This is an existing government programme that will improve the delivery of EMS to all communities. However, the hosting of the World Cup in 2010 has led to the acceleration of the implementation of the NESF in the following key areas:
- High-tech communication centres are being established in major centres within each province, based initially on two per province. Government has invested more than R37-million for the establishment of these centres.
- There are existing helicopter services in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Before 2010, medical helicopter services will be established in Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo (which will also be able to cover North West and Mpumalanga areas) at a cost of R27-million. For the World Cup, these will be supplemented with additional services from the military and private sector.
- A scheduled replacement programme is being implemented to replace all existing emergency vehicles that have travelled in excess of 200 000 kilometres. Over the next three years, 450 vehicles will be replaced at a cost of R135-million.
- R8-million is being invested to upgrade emergency centres designated for the World Cup – these will benefit South Africans beyond 2010.
- Emergency personnel will be undergoing higher-level training to increase the ability of staff to provide immediate care at the site of the emergency.