Addressing delegates attending Cosatu's central committee in Midrand yesterday, Motsoaledi said the country had to prioritise HIV-Aids, which was rampant in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng.
"Africa has O,7% of the population of the world but 17% of people with HIV-Aids are in Africa. We have more women dying during pregnancy," he said.
He said between 1997 and 2004 most young people died at the age of 30 because of infection.
Motsaledi said an observation was made that during the seven year period "something was killing young women during child-bearing years, which was not in line with the laws of biology".
He said women's deaths were escalating despite the fact that the "life expectancy of women was longer than that of men".
He said between 1997 and 2006 death figures had doubled from 317 000 to 612 000.
"Some people believe it is because of population growth, but no, it is because of sickness," he said.
Motsaledi said the government had embarked on, among other things, the widespread provision of condoms, male circumcision, HIV-Aids testing and counselling to reduce deaths.
He said the high rate of infection in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga was because traditionally the Nguni clans did not go "to the mountains".
He urged workers to start having confidence in public hospitals to avoid high medical costs charged in private hospitals.
"Employers can increase your medical aid subsidy by up to 100% but your benefits will end by June because private hospitals charge exorbitant amounts," he said.
Motsoaledi said there had to be a mechanism to regulate fees that private hospitals charge.
He said unless private hospitals were regulated, the National Health Insurance scheme would never solve the problem of access to healthcare.
He condemned private hospitals for charging up to R15 000 for a simple procedure such as circumcision.
Source: Sowetan
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