Imperial's Unjani Clinics initiative won the ‘Health Category Award’ at the recent ‘Investing in the Future & Drivers of Change Awards’, hosted by the Mail & Guardian and the Southern Africa Trust.
This annual event is aimed at recognising good corporate citizenship, and Imperial was honoured for the women empowerment focus of its project, said Imperial Health Sciences managing director, Dr Iain Barton.
He commented that when Imperial launched this initiative in 2010, it became the first private sector organisation in South Africa to start a primary healthcare network that was run and owned by professional nurses.
According to Barton, 19 clinics have since been set up in areas such as Kwaggafontein (Mpumulunga), Orange Farm, (Southern Gauteng), Tembisa (Ekurhuleni) and Winterveld (Tshwane).
“Providing appropriate, accessible and affordable healthcare is an ongoing challenge in South Africa. Unjani Clinics have, to date, delivered primary healthcare services to more than 80 000 people. They engage with the lower-income population as customers, offering them access to primary healthcare, essential medicines and education in their communities at prices that they can afford,” Barton said.
