2011-10-31 22:21
Johannesburg - Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi vowed on Monday to bring an end to doctors electing for caesarean section births for commercial gain.
"To tell you the truth... we want to abolish it. It is worrying because it is [more] commercially driven than [by] health factors." he said
Motsoaledi was speaking after helping to deliver a child born at the Mankweng Hospital in Polokwane. He visited the hospital as part of global celebrations marking the birth of the 7th billionth person.
Motsoaledi said the increase in the country's and the globe's population was cause for celebration and concern.
Inroads were being made in preventing the transmission of HIV/Aids but productive health was backtracking.
Most teenage girls were falling pregnant because of poor family planning, the minister said.
According to department data, over 700 000 people have terminated pregnancies since abortion was legalised in 1997 and 2000, and 60 000 of them were teenagers.
Motsoaledi said his department would step up its contraception campaign in the communities.
- SAPA
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