Mohammed Docrat's decades-long mission to transform Makana healthcare
By Lufuno Masindi
Mohammed Docrat has spent decades working collaboratively to achieve compassionate and innovative local public health care in the Eastern Cape. He worked as the sub-district pharmacy manager and later as acting sub-district manager in Makana.
Through partnerships with key stakeholders in Health in Makhanda, notably Rhodes University, Docrat has led several impactful and sustained initiatives to make access to quality healthcare a reality. Most recently, Docrat led the renovation of the Joza Clinic which resulted in a new Mother and Child care service in the city.
Docrat describes his proudest moment - when he became the first subdistrict in the province to pave the way for the antiretroviral (ARV) program. "We worked tirelessly as a team," Docrat recounts.He described this success as a collective effort that was not just a policy win, but a lifeline for hope in a country struggling with the HIV epidemic.
During his time at the sub-district, Docrat contributed to several public health awareness provincial events, such as World TB Day and International Women's Day, and launched the Youth Zone at a clinic in Port Alfred. After identifying the need for skilled personnel, the Pharmacy Assistant Training Programme involved about 50 pharmacy assistants, many of whom were unemployed youth. His partnership with Rhodes gives students a platform to do community outreach programmes for pharmacy students and research for postgraduate students from different faculties.
"This is close to my heart," he says, reflecting on how the program empowered the health system and tackled unemployment.
Docrat collaborated with Rhodes University and other local organisations like Coastal Kindness and Gift of the Givers. He also partnered with Dr Davies Optometrists, the Provincial Hospital, Settlers Hospital, and the Sub-District Office, which resulted in removing the backlog in cataract surgeries, restoring sight to many citizens of Makana and surrounding areas.
In partnership with the Department of Health, Dr Davies provided free spectacles to learners from schools in Makhanda. Meanwhile, Kingswood College provided transport for the learners. In the Ndlambe area, Keready partnered with the Department of Health to provide free spectacles to learners in schools. He proudly acknowledges that teamwork held Makana's health system together and made it thrive.
"We are public servants, and patients come first," Doctrat says. For him, public health is about people, not systems.