Human rights commission accuses KwaZulu-Natal of failing cancer patients
A damning report by the South African Human Rights Commission has found that the KwaZulu-Natal health department has failed its cancer patients. The commission’s 68-page report found that "the delays in the provision of‚ and in some cases the denial of‚ oncology services to cancer patients‚ some of whom are destitute and in need of healthcare‚ affects them in a most fundamental way". "It poses a serious threat to the patients’ lives and the enjoyment of other rights. It cannot be denied that the rights to life and human dignity‚ which are intertwined in our Constitution are intertwined in this matter." The commission’s investigation followed a complaint lodged by the DA’s Dr Imran Keeka‚ a member of the provincial legislature‚ in February 2016. He complained that a dire staffing crisis affecting oncology specialists and other medical staff‚ coupled with insufficient and nonfunctioning oncology machines and delays in treating patients, was adversely affecting cancer patients in the p...
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