Thursday, 28 March, 2024
HomeMedico-LegalMassive disparity in public input figures on controversial COVID regulations

Massive disparity in public input figures on controversial COVID regulations

AfriForum and DearSA have raised concerns about government’s handling of the public participation process on the proposed amendments to the Health Act., claiming 310,000 comments through their platforms while the Department of Health has registered only 15,000.

“These proposed regulations are extremely invasive and will allow the Department of Health to force people into quarantine camps against their will and also force them to receive certain medical treatments, among other things. The fact that the department now seems to be bungling the public participation process is of grave concern,” said AfriForum campaigns manager Jacques Broodryk.

Polity reports that the department claimed to have received 15,000 public comments. AfriForum and DearSA are disputing this since the two organisations have received more than 310,000 comments through their official participation platforms. All of these comments were sent directly to the department.

DearSA CEO Gideon Joubert explained that the two organisations were still processing the final results of about 283,000 comments, but preliminary indications show that more than 95% of comments outright reject the proposed Health Act regulations. Joubert added that 3% did not fully support the proposed amendments while around 2% supported them.

The Cape High Court will hand down its ruling next week in a challenge to the controversial new draft regulations that provide health officials with wide-ranging powers to manage patients testing positive for COVID.

Polity article – AfriForum, DearSA question government’s approach to public participation regarding health regulations (Open access)

 

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

Notifiable Medical Conditions amendments are ‘poorly drafted’ and ‘Orwellian’

 

150,000 public submissions on National Health Act

 

Resistance to Health Department’s stop-gap regulation powers

 

 

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