Elizabeth Hendrina 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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, from 1989 to 1994. Venter graduated from Pretoria University and was a social worker for 20 years. She served in the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

government of

F. W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk ( , ; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as the seventh and final state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President of South Africa, deputy president a ...

, 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 * Filin ...

post. She retired from politics in 1994.

Desegregation

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

desegregation Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...

. 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: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

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 non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

HIV/AIDS

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

AIDS pandemic The global pandemic 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), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...

, 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 Ministers of health of South Africa 1938 births National Party (South Africa) politicians Women government ministers of South Africa Place of birth missing (living people)