Service Overview
Municipal Health Services is the assessment, correction, control and prevention of factors in the environment that can adversely affect human health.
It is concerned amongst other things with the investigation of outbreak of diseases and monitoring of factors in the environment affecting health. Health Promotion is an integral part of MHS as it has an important role to play in mitigating preventable diseases through improvements in managing the environment.
Investigation of outbreaks of disease, monitoring of the environment, food control and health promotion are provided by environmental health practitioners
Municipal Health Functions
Section 32 of the National Health Act, 2003 (Act 61 of 2003) as amended defines Municipal Health Services in terms of nine key components:
- Water Quality Monitoring
This function is concerned with:
- Ensuring provision of hygienically safe and adequate supply of potable water.
- Respond to complaints on contaminants/impurities;
- Bacteriological & chemical water sampling; mapping of water sources and conducting health and hygiene education campaigns.
- Food Control
Food Control is as a mandatory regulatory activity of enforcement to provide consumer protection and ensure that all foods during production, handling, storage, processing and distribution are safe, wholesome for human consumption; conform to quality and safety requirements and are honestly and accurately labelled as prescribed by law. It briefly involves the following:
- Carry out routine inspections of food handling establishments (premises).
- Enforcement of the food related provisions of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 Act No: 54 of 1972) and Regulations.
- Waste Management
This relates to monitoring waste management systems: handling, storage, transportation, and disposal of industrial and domestic solid waste, including health care risk waste, hazardous waste and effluents. It involves the following:
- Ensuring proper handling, storage, collection, treatment and disposal of health care waste and hazardous waste.
- Ensuring that waste is stored, collected, removed and disposed of effectively and efficiently and that proper facilities and containers are provided.
- Health Surveillance of Premises
This concerns identification and monitoring of health risks, nuisances and hazards and instituting remedial and preventative measures in various premises. This is done by conducting health inspections at these premises:
- Childcare services (crèches, nurseries, day care, after school care, child minders, pre-schools).
- Old age homes
- Homes for the destitute.
- Government institutions (Schools, Health Facilities, Prisons, police stations, etc.)
- Hotels/motels/boarding houses.
- And other premises
- Environmental Pollution Control
This relates to matters of prevention of water, air, soil and noise pollution including radiation hazard control. It’s concerned with:
- Identification and monitoring of premises to ensure that no health nuisances, risks or hazards occur and instituting of corrective measures where such nuisances, risks or hazards occur.
- Surveillance and Prevention of Communicable Diseases
This is concerned with the surveillance of communicable diseases, conducting investigations aimed at prevention of disease outbreaks in communities. It involves among other things the following:
- Health and hygiene promotion in prevention of communicable diseases
- Case investigations and reporting
- Collaboration with other stakeholders and Departments regarding outbreaks
- Vector Control
This component involves routine surveillance, identification and eradication of vector breeding areas. Examples of vectors are, rodents, insects, pests, etc. This involves:
- Identification of vectors, their habitats and breeding places and instituting remedial and preventative measures.
- Applications/instituting of eradication/control measures such as spraying of premises, baiting, fumigation, application of pesticides and placing of traps at properties/premises.
- Disposal of the Dead
This component is concerned with the control and inspection of funeral undertakers, embalmers, crematoria and mortuaries. It also includes regulation and control of graves, cemeteries, crematoria and management of exhumations. Among other things it’s also concerned with:
- Control, restrict or prohibit:
- The business of a funeral undertaker or embalmer.
- Mortuaries and other places or facilities for the storage of dead bodies.
- Treatment, removal or transport of dead bodies.
- Chemical Safety
This component relates to matters of safe handling, use and disposal of chemicals. Also the identification and control of premises dealing with manufacturing, transport and storage of chemicals. It involves:
- Identification and controlling of premises/operators dealing with the application, manufacturing, transport, storage or selling of chemicals.
- Health and Hygiene Education
- Household Sanitation Projects
- Awareness Campaigns (Water Week, Environmental Day, Arbor Week, etc.)
