Pholela Health Centre – The beginning
The story of Pholela Community Health Centre dates back to 1940 when the first
ever, Health Centre to be established by the Union Health Department. Following
the report of the National Health Services Commission about the Centre in 1944,
the government decided to establish Health Centres in various parts of South
Africa during this time Pholela Health Centre was considered a useful pilot
project in this new service. Medical Officers and other staff appointed to the
newly created Health Centres were first sent to Pholela to gain experience in
the Health Centre practice and also to study methods evolved there. Pholela
remained the teaching and investigation base in a service to be provided for
various types of communities in South Africa, this resulted in the Centre
becoming the rural section of an Institute of Family and Community Health which
was established with headquarters in Durban.
COPHC and Pholela
Pholela is acknowledged internationally as the site where the Community Oriented
Primary Health Care concept was successfully initiated and put into practice.
The late Professor Sydney Kark introduced the COPHC approach in dealing with the
Health needs of the community. In this approach the community’s health needs
become known to the health care workers through community surveys that are
conducted by the Health Workers which, among other things, include mapping of
areas, understanding the culture, beliefs and habits of the community,
socio-economic status as well as prevalent conditions, this approach was
pioneered at Pholela by Professor Kark who was later joined by his wife Doctor
Emily Kark to ensure that the concept became a great success. Through COPHC the
communities started taking care of their health. The health workers conducted
home visits, gave health education to the families and communities.
When apartheid took its toll in South Africa the Karks left the country to
Israel where they continued what they had pioneered at Pholela Health Centre.
The COPC (Community Oriented Primary Care) as it was known, became the household
name in the health service in international countries whilst it was dying is
South Africa.
The Revival
Realising the role that the Health Centre played in the Health service of South
Africa. the new Pholela Community Health Centre was built with the assistance of
international donors brought in by the then Minister for Health Dr Nkosazana
Zuma who also grew up depending on Pholela Health Centre for her Health needs as
a member of Bulwer Community.
Pholela Community Health Centre has assisted many post-graduates studying COPHC
as they had to visit the Centre in order to identify with the concept. The
Health Centre continues to render top class health service to the surrounding
communities. There are currently 7 Clinics that are satellite to Pholela CHC and
many outreach programmes that are rendered to the community.
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Copyright © KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, 2001