Sabie - A total of 18 new mobile clinics will be launched in Mpumalanga to provide healthcare access to rural villages and farming areas that have no clinic facilities nearby.
Department of Health and Social Development MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu will launch the mobile clinics at the Leroro community hall in Matibidi township near Sabie, on Friday.
Spokesperson Mpho Gabashane said the department was trying to improve services to the many areas in the province that still had no healthcare facilities.
"It is in this context that we are strengthening our mobile services so that all our people can access healthcare services in areas that they frequent or where they stay," said Gabashane.
These mobile clinics will make a difference in the lives of many rural and farming communities who are underserved because of the shortage of mobile clinics.
"We have noticed service delivery gaps in the five local municipalities in the Ehlanzeni district, which the addition of mobile clinics will assist to close."
He said Mbombela local municipality, with Nelspruit as its headquarters, would receive five of the mobile clinics.
"Creches were no longer visited in the rural areas around Nelspruit because of a lack of vehicles in most of the newly established areas like Msholozi in Rocky's Drift and other surrounding farms," he explained.
Umjindi local municipality (Barberton) will be allocated one new mobile clinic to cover farms in the area, while Nkomazi local municipality (Komatipoort) has been allocated five mobile clinics to service Tsambokhulu, Goba, Mangweni, Mandulo and Khombaso villages.
Thaba Chweu local municipality (Mashishing) will get three mobile clinics to service Sabie and surrounding areas.
The Bushbuckridge local municipality with its numerous villages, many of which are isolated, will get four new mobile clinics as well as a number of sedans.
"The allocation of these mobile clinics will mean a lot to the people living in these areas who have to travel long distances to access basic services such as health. We will also engage the private sector to assist us in increasing our access levels," Mahlangu said.
