Inauguration Ceremony of Grabouw Community Day Centre | Western Cape Government

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Inauguration Ceremony of Grabouw Community Day Centre

20 June 2013
Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, in partnership with the French Embassy, officially opened an Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) site at the Grabouw Community Day Centre (CDC) on 20 June 2013.
 
The services offered include all outpatients services for adults and children, prenatal care and deliveries, immunisations and HIV/Aids and TB services (prevention and treatment).
 
In 2009, The French president donated more than R12 million for the construction of an ART site at the Grabouw CDC.
 
In his address, Minister Botha said: “We are grateful to the French government for their investment in our province and hope that the excellent relationship will continue in the future.”
 
"The existing Grabouw CDC serves a community whose population has experienced explosive growth over the past years. The clinic could not keep up with the growth of the community and found itself in a situation where patient circulation, departmental and clinical functions were seriously compromised.”
 
The extended site allows integration of HIV/Aids and TB services within the overall services, and to improve the quality of services. It also extended the maternal services along with the complete re-organisation of the facility.
 
The Grabouw CDC is an accredited ARV and TB treatment site with 8 000 patients seen monthly; this number is increasing by almost 40 patients a month.
 
The population served by Grabouw CDC is between 40 000 and 50 000, and the planning of the additional space for the ARV and TB Treatment Centre will be adequate for a period of 20 years, by which time the population is expected to grow to 60 000.
 
In February 2008, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife visited the ARV and TB Treatment Centre at the Gugulethu Community Health Centre (CHC) in Cape Town. During his visit, he announced that the French Government, through its bilateral co-operation agreement with South Africa, intended to support the provision of similar ARV and TB treatment centres. The French government made a donation of R12 million and specified that the funding and construction must be managed by the provincial Department of Health through the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works.
 
Construction was completed in August 2012.
 
Background Information
Grabouw Clinic was officially opened in 1978, with a two-bed maternity ward and four midwives. The other services available rendered by two professional nurses were family planning, TB services and immunisations. In 1986, curative services was added and rendered by a doctor, a professional nurse and a nursing assistant. 
 
In 1995 the health services moved to a building on the current premises with the same number of staff and in 2003 a dental clinic, X-ray department, mobile services and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were added to the services.
 
ARV services were also started in 2003. In 2005 the clinic was reclassified as a CDC. At the same time Nutech homes were erected at the back of the building to render ARV services, with no waiting area.
 
Drastic increase in ARV patients resulted in staff increase. Currently the amount of registered ART patients amounts to 1 394 adults and 93 children are treated at this new facility.  
 
The non-governmental organisation called Right to Care came on board and more staff members were appointed for ARV services.
Media Enquiries: 
Hélène Rossouw
Spokesperson for Theuns Botha, Western Cape Minister of Health 
Tel: 021 483 4426
Cell:  082 771 8834