Primary healthcare infrastructure projects

The DoH has set the task of developing and strengthening the primary healthcare system. The majority of rural communities now have primary healthcare nurses delivering comprehensive care and management of HIV/AIDS, including the roll-out of ARVs. This is done under the supervision of medical doctors. Aspen has continued to contribute towards this initiative through the support of a number of projects in the sector, including the following:

• The Wells Estate Wellness Centre in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth has benefited from Aspen’s financial contribution to install a vegetable tunnel which uses a hydroponic farming system. The vegetable produce from the tunnel supplements the patients’ nutritional needs which, in turn, strengthens a patient’s immune system;
• The Transkei-based Engcobo Clinic, established by the Group in 2002, received financial assistance from Aspen for the new extension to its existing clinic which now provides a much improved and more suitable environment for patients and staff; and
• A financial contribution was made to the Somerset Hospital Trauma Unit and the Chaeli Campaign for children with Cerebral Palsy during the year.

During the year Aspen identified the need for, and undertook to financially assist with, selected State clinic projects which aim to provide a homogenous range of primary healthcare services, specifically with the help of qualified nurses. The focus of these clinics is to provide treatment for acute conditions which do not require hospitalisation. These clinics also provide HIV/AIDS services such as voluntary counselling and testing, information on prevention of mother-to-child transmission, provision of ARVs and access to support groups. Projects supported are outlined as follows:

• The Mduku Clinic was built in the Umkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal, and was inaugurated in April 2009;
• The Mnqobokazi Clinic, also located in KwaZulu-Natal, is currently in the final phases of construction and is expected to be completed at the end of 2009;
• Aspen supported building of the Namahadi Clinic in the Thaba Mofutsanyane District in the Free State which was completed in June 2009; and
• The Utah Clinic, situated in the Manyeleti Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, which is anticipated to be completed in 2010.

Education

Aspen remains committed to promoting healthcare education and leadership. The Group therefore continued to support the Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education, which assists disadvantaged students with tertiary level pharmaceutical studies. Four students are currently benefiting from this bursary.

Aspen also continued to support the Friends of Mosvold Trust in the Umkhanyakude District which offers bursaries to students in KwaZulu-Natal who have committed to practice medicine and allied professions in their own communities.¹

Financial support was granted to the The Wits Initiative for Rural Health Education (“WIRHE”), an initiative launched by the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Johannesburg in 2003. An Aspen representative is a member of the WIRHE advisory board. The aim of the initiative is to recruit disadvantaged students from rural areas, specifically from the North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces to study towards careers in the health sciences and to further support these candidates to qualify as healthcare professionals. The objective is to alleviate shortages of doctors, nurses and pharmacists in targeted areas and to provide a model for this purpose. The students have all signed contracts to work in their respective districts after qualification. Ongoing vacation work assists in developing an experience base and strengthening relationships between candidates, professional staff and management to further promote the commitment to community service after graduating.

For the past 10 years Aspen, the South African Military Medical Health Service and the DoH have worked closely and successfully together to help address the country’s needs for more qualified primary healthcare practitioners, including clinical nurses. In light of the drastic shortage of doctors and pharmacists, formalised training programmes provide upskilling courses to enable nurses to conduct health assessments and to deliver a broader level of service to a growing patient-base which requires general medical treatment, as well as specialised treatment for target diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and more recently, Swine Flu.

In line with new legislation, all dispensing nurses have to complete the Dispensing Licence for qualified Non-Pharmacist Healthcare Workers course, as accredited by the South African Pharmacy Council. Aspen offered additional financial assistance for the implementation of this course which is to be incorporated into the nurses training curriculum. To meet the Pharmacy Council’s stringent training standards, Aspen funded the establishment of a training infrastructure which includes a pharmacy for dispensing training, examination rooms, patient counselling rooms and associated equipment. Through this initiative, more nurses are qualified to provide enhanced levels of healthcare services, whilst enabling these nurses to improve their own skills set at no cost to themselves.

CSI AT ASPEN’S INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS

Aspen Global donated furniture from its temporary offices to the facilities of the SOS Children’s Villages in Mauritius.

Beta Healthcare partnered with the Lions Club of Kenya in donating antibiotics to the national hospital for HIV/AIDS patients. During the year, the company also donated antiseptic soaps to all prisons in the country. This gesture was well received by the government of Kenya. In addition, veterinary products were donated to the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture to be distributed to rural farmers who had been severely impacted by the ongoing drought in Kenya.

In Tanzania, in order to assist with the healthcare needs in the rural areas, Shelys donated medicines to the Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es Salaam and donated essential medicines to the Tageta Mission Hospital. The Malaria Prevention and Awareness Campaign and various HIV/AIDS awareness programmes were conducted. Shelys also provided sponsorships to medical colleges in Tanzania, Zambia and Congo for the subsidisation of the graduation ceremonies for the pharmaceutical students. Furthermore, financial assistance was provided to the Kinondoni Municipality’s school development programme in Dar es Salaam.