The month of March being our TB focus month, I felt there is no better way of
understanding the impact and devastation that TB causes to families then to
spend time with Dr Nareesa Pather’s family.
The story of Dr Pather has been an eye opener for me and the department. A young
woman, full of passion to serve the people is now in need of care that she was
called to. Her patients came first. She was willing to sacrifice her own
well-being for the sake of her patients.
A health care facility is a workplace as well as a place for receiving and
giving care. Health care facilities employ thousands of workers who are exposed
to a complex variety of health and safety hazards everyday including:
I also came to a colleague, a fellow clinician, to extend my sincere compassion
and reassure her family of our full support from now on. I also wish to extend
the same to all other workers in similar situations whom I would have loved to
visit individually but cannot due to other pressing engagements, but they too
have our full support. I have now a clear understanding of the pain and
suffering that our staff and their families go through. Dr Pather’s family has
endured enough in the eight years of her suffering.
Unsafe working conditions contribute to health worker attrition due to
work-related illness and injury and the resulting fear of health workers of
occupational infection, including from HIV and Tuberculosis.
Certain administrative glitches have occurred and I called the CEO of King
Edward VIII Hospital to activate certain processes that should have happened a
long time ago.
I will ask the Head of Department to; (i) provide me with details of the number
of people affected, (ii) develop programmes for health worker occupational
health and (iii) for the Department to develop a campaign for immunizing health
workers against hepatitis B and other occupational diseases.
I thank you
ISSUED BY:
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
CHRIS MAXON : 0832850567