ning. Nurses are trained at several universities, hospitals, and nursing schools. More than 300 hospitals are managed by the government and only 255 are privately operated. There are about 108,000 hospital beds nationwide and almost 24,800 beds in psychiatric hospitals. In 1995, about 25,600 doctors and 24,500 health professionals, 160,000 nurses and more than 5,100 dentists and dental specialists were registered with the South African Medical and Dental Council and the South African Nursing Council. In the early 1990’s, only about 1,500 doctors, nationwide were black. Wealthy white areas averaged one doctor per 1,200 people and the poorest black homelands had one doctor for 13,000 people. One of the government’s highest priorities in the mid 1990’s was the prevention of childhood death and disease through nationwide immunization programs. Some of these health problems were malnutrition, starvation, tetanus, measles, malaria, and other communicable diseases. One of Nelson Mandela’s first actions after assuming office in May 1994 was to implement a program for free health care for children under the age of six. By 1996, officials estimated that at least 75 percent of all infants had been immunized against polio and measles. Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma stated in December 1994 that only 20 percent of South Africans had some form of health insurance. The government plans to institute a program of free universal primary health care (Library of Congress, 70).In 1993, President Frederick W. De Klerk stressed the need for a non-racial school system that would allow communities to preserve their religious and cultural values and their home language. The government also set aside 23.5 percent of the national budget for education for that year. When the new school year began in 1993, all government-run primary and secondary schools were officially integrated. More than 11 million pupils were enrolle...
