Elizabeth Venter (born 9 December 1938), known as Rina Venter, was the Minister of National Health and Population Development of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, from 1989 to 1994. Venter graduated from Pretoria University and was a social worker for 20 years. She served in the National Party government of F. W. de Klerk, and was the first woman in South African history to hold a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

post. She retired from politics in 1994.

Desegregation

On 17 May 1990, Venter announced that South Africa's health system would begin

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

. South Africa's 240 state hospitals became available to all races, although with less-than-optimal implementation.

Anti-tobacco

Under pressure from opposition political parties, Venter publicly committed in 1991 to investigate tobacco legislation. The

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

government had vested interests in the tobacco industry, and would therefore be reluctant to introduce restrictions, so she enlisted the help of the civil society Tobacco Action Group, in order to bolster media and public support for anti-smoking efforts. After consulting with pro- and anti-tobacco lobbyists, Venter decided to introduce the Control of Smoking and Advertising of Tobacco Products Draft Bill, which would give her the power to restrict smoking in certain public places, would make it an offense to sell cigarettes to people under 16, and would further introduce restrictions such as health warnings on advertisements for tobacco products. The bill reemerged in 1992 as the Tobacco Products Control Bill, and was delayed until 1993 by the government. It was finally approved by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on 17 June 1993. Venter received recognition for her work to curb tobacco use with an award by the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

HIV/AIDS

Her department formulated a comprehensive and detailed plan for responding to the nascent

AIDS pandemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

, which was however hampered by lack of funding. She has criticized her successors for abandoning this plan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venter, Rina Living people Afrikaner people Health ministers of South Africa 1938 births National Party (South Africa) politicians Women government ministers of South Africa Place of birth missing (living people)