Healthcare

h) EFF Municipalities on Health

EFF municipalities will:

1. Expand access to comprehensive primary healthcare services, including sexual and reproductive healthcare, maternal healthcare, HIV care, mental health services, and psychosocial support.

2. Deploy mobile health units and community health workers to provide healthcare services, screenings, referrals, and follow-up care in rural, peri-urban, and under-serviced communities.

3. Extend clinic operating hours and progressively develop 12-hour and 24-hour clinics in municipalities where demand and resources permit.

4. Renovate existing clinics and build new health facilities to expand access to healthcare and reduce overcrowding.

5. Introduce digital patient management and appointment systems to reduce waiting times, improve efficiency, and protect patient privacy.

6. Strengthen patient care by enforcing professional standards, medical ethics, and patient rights through continuous training and accountability measures.

7. Recruit, train, and retain healthcare workers, including community health workers, nurses, and other frontline personnel, to improve access to quality healthcare.

8. Ensure that all municipal health facilities have reliable access to electricity, water, backup power, and essential services to prevent disruptions to healthcare delivery.

9. Upgrade roads, transport routes, and supporting infrastructure leading to clinics and healthcare facilities to improve access for patients, ambulances, and emergency services.

10. Establish ward-based victim support units and centres for survivors of gender-based violence, with access to medical, legal, forensic, psychological, and social support services.

11. Improve maternal, child, and reproductive healthcare through specialised training, improved facilities, post-natal care, and support programmes for mothers, children, and healthcare workers.

12. Ensure the continuous supply of free sanitary towels in local clinics and public health facilities.

13. Provide specialised services, including speech therapy and developmental support for children with special needs.

14. Provide targeted support for vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ persons, migrants, people living in poverty, and survivors of gender-based violence.

15. Enforce ambulance response time targets of a maximum of 20 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas.

16. Integrate certified traditional health practitioners into local healthcare systems and provide dignified infrastructure for access to traditional and indigenous medicine alongside conventional care.

17. Establish community-run vegetable gardens linked to clinics to support nutrition programmes and food security for vulnerable families.

18. Absorb community health workers as municipal employees to conduct household health, nutrition, and child development outreach programmes.

19. Build municipal rehabilitation centres and implement community-based programmes to combat drug and substance abuse, particularly amongst young people, in identified hotspots across rural communities, townships, and metros.

20. Work with schools, healthcare institutions, civil society, and community organisations to run awareness and educational programmes on the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol, and smoking, while promoting healthy lifestyles.