Cape Town - “The biggest contribution the private sector can make to ensuring better healthcare for all South Africans, is to build sustainable business models within the communities they set out to help”.
This is according to Paul Miller, chief executive of Cipla Medpro, speaking at the Cipla Leadership Forum, which was hosted this week at the site of two newly launched Cipla Foundation initiatives in Klipheuwel, namely a Sha’* Left clinic and an Ajuga Early Childhood Development Centre.
Health MEC Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, who attended the forum, said: “No-one can deny that issues of equity in access to health services must be addressed: the gap between the haves and have nots, the relationship between public and private. No-one can say we can’t address that.”
Miller said: “Lack of access to healthcare is one significant problem, but there is also a lack of education, as well as a lack of job opportunities. The biggest contribution that private sector companies can make is to partner with the organisations working to solve these problems, and present them with self-sustaining solutions.”
He said turning social responsibility initiatives into workable business models would help to create job opportunities within communities.
“The Klipheuwel project has been made possible through the right partnerships. We could not have accomplished any of this without the involvement of valuable stakeholders like Dr Bradley Kuhn, Puma, and the NGO Little Lambs,” said Miller. “We hope to grow this even further by getting more organisations to join our cause.”
Mbombo pointed out that the solutions provided by Cipla Foundation in the form of its Ajuga and Sha’* Left initiatives have shown great promise. “One thing that we at the Department of Health understand all too well, is that availability is not the same as accessibility. We can build major hospitals and other facilities, but if community members have to travel far distances and wait in long queues without the guarantee that they will be assisted that day, it does not help.”
With this in mind, the minster welcomed and applauded the involvement of forward-thinking companies such as Cipla.