Pretoria - The South African and Kingdom of Swazilands' Health Departments have signed a cooperation agreement in a bid to improve healthcare services in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
The agreement, signed on Monday by Health Ministers Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and Benedict Xaba, entails technical, professional education and training of health professionals, sharing of experience in research and development.
It also includes the twinning of public hospitals between the two countries and special medical care and health services including patient referrals.
The agreement supports activities and obligations under the Protocol on Health in the SADC region, which among others entails the poaching of health workers from countries in the region and inter-country initiatives to combat diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis (TB).
Motsoaledi said the agreement will bring an end Swaziland citizens forking out huge amounts of money when a patient is referred to a South African private hospital.
He said with the agreement, patients can be referred to the country's public hospitals with a minimum payment for health services rendered.
"There was a misunderstanding that Swaziland was forced to use private hospitals when referring patients to South Africa and ended up paying an outrageous exorbitant amount," Motsoaledi said.
He added that Swaziland citizens would bring their own donors when or if patients required a transplant. They would also pay for those procedures.
Xaba said South Africa had afforded Swaziland the opportunity to refer patients to its hospitals for specialised medical treatment.
"Collaboration among health institutions such as universities, research institutions, manufacturers and supplies of drugs and equipment in the two countries remain very strong," Xaba said.
He added that Swaziland does not have adequate capacity to provide specialised health care and has benefited immensely from its partnership with South Africa. Recently, a 10-year-old boy was flown to the country for kidney transplant.
Xaba said the two countries face similar health challenges including HIV and AIDS, TB, H1N1 and other chronic diseases.
"Success in addressing health challenges requires close cooperation between the two countries because of the novelty of people and close socio cultural interaction, in both countries, many people have close relatives across the border and frequently visit each other," Xaba said.
He stressed the need to harmonise health policies, intervention and treatment for common diseases to ensure that they provide similar health services.
