R19m US boost for Health Channel
Candace Freeman
16 April 2004
The US government has announced a R19-million investment towards expanding South Africa's new public health education channel.
The Health Channel, to be launched later this year, is a satellite broadcast channel delivering free education to patients and healthcare workers in clinics and hospitals across South Africa.
The funding is part of US President George Bush's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Announcing the funding in Johannesburg last week, US ambassador to South Africa Cameron Hume said the Aids pandemic was putting South Africa's public health care system under huge strain.
"Many health care workers who work in under-resourced environments need more training on the disease, and many patients will benefit from health promotion and education", Hume said.
The Health Channel was created through a partnership between the Department of Health,
state-owned telecoms service provider Sentech, and Mindset Network, a partnership led by the Liberty and Standard Bank Foundations.
The Channel was successfully piloted in 56 clinics and hospitals in October 2003.
The Health Channel aims to be broadcasting in all 4 000 public healthcare sites in South Africa within five years, serving 97 000 nurses and 36 million South Africans who use the public health sector.
The channel also has the potential to be extended into the rest of Africa.
"We are delighted to receive such generous support from the US government", said Mindset Network chairman Hylton Appelbaum. "This financial boost will enable us to produce and broadcast significant new educational material on HIV/Aids in a war against ignorance - a war we cannot afford to lose."
Source: BuaNews
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