“The Surgeon General says ...”2Lt Gen V.I. RamlakanDMG, MMS, MMB, OStJ“The greatest glory in living, lies notin never failing but in rising everytime you fall” - Nelson MandelaDuring <strong>Feb</strong>ruary I was honoured to officiate at the<strong>SA</strong>MHS Unity Awards at the <strong>SA</strong>MHS TrainingFormation in Thaba Tshwane.These Annual Awards, as you all know, are all aboutthe acknowledgement and recognition of specialefforts by our members in enhancing service delivery inour organisation. Furthermore, these Awards form partof the national recognition effort in terms of thoseSouth Africans who distinguish themselves in theirefforts to make this country a better country. During theAwards I was reminded of how many committed anddedicated members there are in the <strong>SA</strong> <strong>Military</strong> <strong>Health</strong><strong>Service</strong>.During that evening I took the opportunity toannounce a few significant changes in respect of theseawards. The first change to take place is the nameitself. The theme of Unity which underpins theseAwards, I am sure you will agree with me when I say isno longer relevant. South Africa is twelve years intodemocracy and as a country has had ample time toachieve unity. Besides, it is universally accepted thatSouth Africa is a united country given how we as SouthAfricans, against all odds, have managed to make thesmooth transition from a violent past to a new era ofdemocracy, freedom and equality. Therefore the ratherflattering reference by the rest of the world to ourtransition namely, the miracle, is not without occasion.The reference to our democracy as a miracle ispremised on the fact that we could only wrought themiracle if we were united in our collective purpose, ifnot all, the majority. The successful integration of theseven different military formations that gave rise to the<strong>SA</strong>NDF as we have it today implies that unity amongmembers of the <strong>SA</strong>NDF prevails.Further, as men and women in uniform, our unity ofpurpose is a given. We wear the same uniformprecisely because the uniform symbolizes our unity andcohesion. Today, therefore, marks the burial of thename <strong>SA</strong>MHS Unity Awards and the birth of the<strong>SA</strong>MHS Annual Corporate Awards. Therefore, we saygoodbye to the Unity Awards and say ‘hello’ to the<strong>SA</strong>MHS Annual Corporate Awards.The second change to be witnessed going forward, isrepresentivity in terms of the recipients of these awards.This of course is in line with the bigger TransformationDrive of the <strong>SA</strong>MHS. As part of this name-changingprocess, the Surgeon General’s Award, namely theAréte Award as from this year will be known as theMohale Award. Significantly, the Greek word ‘Aréte’will give way to an African name ‘Mohale’ which isSeSotho for ‘Hero’. I am sure, that as military peoplewe will immediately warm up to the word ‘hero’ as themilitary, by definition, is about heroes and heroineswho voluntarily lay down their lives, if need be, indefence of their country and its people. Incidentally,this name was chosen by a panel of experts after muchconsultation.Congratulations to all the winners! Their moment ofglory, which they fully deserved, I am sure waspreceded by long hours of perseverance andobstacles, but then again that is exactly what NelsonMandela meant when he said: “The greatest glory inliving, lies not in never failing, but in rising every timeyou fall”. I am sure that there were many times whenyou encountered obstacles and fell but every timemanaged to rise again. To those who did not win Iwould like to say that they must work harder and drawstrength and courage from these wise words from ourformer President.Finally, many thanks to all the sponsors and theorganisers who made the 2006 <strong>SA</strong>MHS Awardspossible.V.I. Ramlakan
contentsmilmed@mweb.co.zaRegulars“The Surgeon General says ...”Inside CoverEditor’s Column 5News Clips 6-7FeaturesWorld Aids Day 8-12Project Phidisa - Questions and Answers 12-13BATLS and BARTS at Air Force Base, Swartkop 14-15Aviation Medicine 16-17Presidential Medical Team 18Human Battle Space 19Front Cover Photo: Lt van Deventer andLt Mbuvisa administer patient care duringthe BATLS and BARTS field exercise at theAir Force Base, Swartkop.(Photograph by Lt John Sverdloff)Pregnancy 20Nutrition and <strong>Health</strong> 21<strong>SA</strong>MHS Logistics Master Plan 22Computer Poison 23Nursing Graduation 24-2514GeneralThe Language Corner 26<strong>SA</strong>MHS Fund News 27SportsCapt Cassius Cloete - An accomplished Sportsman 2624MILMED is the official magazine of the <strong>SA</strong> <strong>Military</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>Service</strong>. It is an authorised publication.Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Editor, the <strong>SA</strong>MHS or the <strong>SA</strong>NDF.The Editor reserves the right to alter any contribution or advertisement.3
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