Pandemic health challenges create opportunities for unemployed youth
Young people have been encouraged to go into healthcare fields as a result of a predicted shortage of healthcare workers in South Africa in the coming years and with unemployment at an all-time high.
Recently the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA) urged young people to “consider careers in the health, social development and veterinary sectors. A crucial part of achieving a skilled healthcare workforce that meets the needs of South Africans is creating awareness among school-leavers about the exciting number of career opportunities that exist in these sectors,” Elaine Brass, CEO of HWETSA, told TimesLive.
Healthcare work is a good option for unemployed youth, especially because South Africa is currently facing record high numbers of unemployment. During the final quarter of 2020, Statistics South Africa reported an unemployment figure of 32.5%, this despite the easing lockdown regulations and reopening of some businesses.
William Henry Nienaber (23), a fourth-year nursing student at the North-West University (NWU) Potchefstroom campus, said “there is a major shortage of healthcare workers right now, mainly because Covid is putting such a big strain on the people who are already working in the field.”
Nienaber, who also does practical work in public service hospitals, said there were other issues that needed to be addressed by the government in the public healthcare sector.
Nienaber said the healthcare worker shortages were symptomatic of the real problem, namely government funding. “In the North-West province there is no money to appoint new staff, I have seen three nurses with just a few assistants on duty who are responsible for 36 patients.”
Anelisa Boyce (18), a first-year nursing student at the NWU, said she would encourage other students to go into a healthcare field. “It is tough but the medical sciences are very interesting, you will discover many things you did not know before.”
South Africa is expected to require almost 100 000 additional healthcare workers by 2025, according to a leaked document from the department of health late last year.
The Covid-19 pandemic just exacerbated the problem, with healthcare workers being overwhelmed. This lead to the government recruiting 2 367 medical interns and 1 693 medical community service practitioners to provide relief to the system.
According to an article on the NWU website, the stress and burden Covid-19 placed on healthcare and medical workers highlighted the importance of the university opening a new medical school in the North-West province, and plans for the school are reportedly ongoing. The school will address the needs of the growing healthcare needs of the public, as well as the education and employment needs of prospective students.
Due to the economic impact of Covid-19 an estimated three million South Africans lost their jobs by July 2020. The move to lower levels of lockdown since then showed some recovery, but 1.8 million South Africans still have not recovered from the loss of a job.