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Parliament - The health department has been allocated a budget of R133.6bn in the 2013/14 Budget.
Of this, R48.8bn is for district, R26.4bn for provincial, and R18.9bn for central health services.
About R10bn is earmarked for spending on health infrastructure.
Tabling his budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said access to healthcare is a "vital element in the social wage".
"There has been progress in reducing mortality and improving our HIV and TB (tuberculosis) programmes, and an expansion in medical and nurse training capacity is under way," he said.
According to the Budget Review document, the country's health indicators have improved significantly in recent years.
The Medical Research Council has been allocated over R400m over the medium term to support research, infrastructure and projects for HIV/Aids, TB and malaria.
The national health department's goal is to reduce infant and child deaths as well as maternal mortality.
It will strengthen the training of doctors and midwives in obstetric emergencies in 25 priority districts this year. It is hoping to increase the TB cure rate from 73% in 2011/2012, to 85% by 2015/2016.
