The Department of Health in the Eastern Cape says it has handed over 54 new mobile clinics to improve access to health care for residents in the province’s far-flung areas.
The department says the clinics have been allocated to six districts and two metros to help close the gap in rural areas where clinics and hospitals have been out of reach.
The Deputy Director General of the Eastern Cape Health Department, Dr Mtandeki Xamlashe says this is an effort to extend the primary health care platform.
“Eastern Cape is a very difficult terrain to navigate- it’s a 4X4 terrain, and our people struggle, and they pay a lot of money to get to the clinic- despite having 700- plus clinics in the province- there are still people in far-flung areas who still struggle to access clinics.”
He added: “So, this is an effort to extend our primary health care platform – to bring it closer to those homes and reduce the misery and cost that befall our patients on a day-to-day basis. This is just the first batch of 157- in total that we have, and we deploy across the province- with a full package of services.”
