Karabus, C D

South African Medical Journal (SAMJ)

BRIEWE286debate around same-sex relationships.  Then too, the centralissue in society’s protection of marriage has always been theprovision of a stable environment for the nurturing of children.The evidence is overwhelming that a stable, loving homeestablished by a child’s birth parents is the best preparation forchildren to grow up as mature, stable adults who contributeoptimally to their society. Yet the profession has said very littleabout this reality in our discussions with government or anyothers with regard to our priorities in nation building.Can it be that we are intimidated into being politicallycorrect and silent on these issues at a time when our people arelosing centrally important visions that previous generationstook for granted? It is salutary to note that the Graeco-RomanEmpire, about which you wrote in your editorial,1unravelledwhen its moral fibre disintegrated.Jon Larsen181 AmberfieldMare StreetHowick32901. Van Niekerk JP. Sexuality and SAMA. S Afr Med J 2005; 95: 131.Doctors disunitedTo the Editor: I retired from medical politics in approximately1995. Recently I was given the honour of being appointedPresident of the Gauteng Branch of SAMA. My interest in theMedical Association and the general field of medical politicswas then reactivated.I recently attended the medical congress at Caesar’s andmust congratulate the organisation on a well-prepared andorganised congress.Many topics were covered; to my mind the best presentationwas by Dr Mamphela Ramphele. She could easily be mypresident. Another brilliant presentation was by Roelf Meyer – one canhardly believe that he belongs to the hierarchy of the oldNational Party.  He mentioned that in fact the deliberations ontransformation and formation of the new constitution withCyril Ramaphosa took place in that very hall.The presentation by Advocate Elsabe Klinck was also veryrevealing; what a brilliant person SAMA lost to thepharmaceutical branch.On reflection I came to the following conclusions, which Ihave held for many years. Firstly, there would be no nursinghomes or hospitals without doctors. Secondly, there would beno medical aid schemes without doctors. Thirdly, there wouldnot be patients if there were no doctors.According to these conclusions doctors should constitute oneof the most powerful bodies in the land. Yet we seem to be theweakest, or in fact we are one of the weakest bodies. Why?Because we are such a disunited group.With this strength we should be governing our own destiny.Instead we are sat upon and bullied by the medical aidschemes, the Department of Health, the Health ProfessionsCouncil and also by patients. If one wants to summarise things, one could say that doctorsare not wanted but only needed.I would like to know what the answer is. How can we, as aprofession, get together and unite as a single body, much asCOSATU has done?Surely SAMA should be able to take on this problem andmake it its priority for the next year so that at next year’sconference they can tell us what progress has been made. Wemight even learn some lessons from COSATU.Jack AdnoPark Lane Clinic Parktown JohannesburgHPCSA – the sound of silenceTo the Editor: The question of my continuing medicaleducation was raised by an overseas hospital to which I hadapplied for a locum post. My 71-point portfolio for 2002 hadbeen sent to the Manager for Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment of the Health Professions Council of South Africa(HPCSA) in March 2003. On 24 January 2004 I asked the CPDmanager for some sort of certification of competence for usewith locum applications. I repeated the request on the 23March 2004 when mailing my points for 2003.Having had no reply to two requests, I wrote to him againon 21 May 2004.Fourteen months later, I still await the courtesy of a response.On assuming the office of HPCSA President, one of ProfessorPadayachee’s first public statements was to boast that Councilwould vigorously pursue physicians guilty of malpractice.Why does the Council treat its other members with suchgross contempt?C D KarabusDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health University of Cape Town and Red Cross War Memorial Children's HospitalRondeboschA request for a response to this letter by the HPCSA was also metby silence. (Ed.)May 2005, Vol. 95, No. 5  SAMJ284-287  5/6/05  12:02 PM  Page 286

HPCSA - the sound of silence

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HPCSA - the sound of silence

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South African Medical Journal (SAMJ)