National Health Act, 2003 (Act No. 61 of 2003)RegulationsRegulations relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions, 2017Chapter 3 : Prevention and Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions15. Mandatory medical examination, prohylaxis, treatment, isolation and quarantine |
| (1) | The required mandatory medical examination, prophylaxis, treatment, isolation or quarantine procedures must be determined on a case by case basis and tailored depending on the public health risk and individual circumstances of the person in question. |
| (2) | The head of a provincial department must apply to the High Court for an appropriate court order, if a person who is a clinical or laboratory confirmed case, carrier or contact of a notifiable medical condition listed in Annexure A, Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 or a medical condition deemed notifiable by the Minister, refuses to consent to— |
| (a) | a medical examination, including but not limited to the taking of any biological specimen; |
| (b) | being admitted at a health establishment; or |
| (c) | mandatory prophylaxis, treatment, isolation or quarantine in order to prevent transmission. |
| (3) | The health care provider should with the assistance of law enforcement agencies, subject a person who is a clinical or laboratory confirmed case, carrier or contact of a notifiable medical condition to prophylaxis, treatment or implement isolation or quarantine procedures whilst awaiting the court order anticipated in subregulation (2) in order to prevent transmission. |
| (4) | The head of a provincial department must apply to a High Court for an order to conduct an autopsy on the body of a patient who has presumably died of a notifiable medical condition, in order to ascertain the exact cause of death, and only where this is in the interest of public health and is on special request by an interested person. |
| (5) | The following conditions must be fulfilled before mandatory prophylaxis, treatment, isolation or quarantine may be taken— |
| (a) | the notifiable medical condition must pose a public health risk; |
| (b) | the person must have expressly, impliedly or by conduct refused voluntary measures to protect public health; |
| (c) | consent in terms of section 7 of the Act could not be obtained; and |
| (d) | the person who is a case, carrier or contact of a notifiable medical condition has been offered and encouraged to accept counselling services in order to assist him or her to understand the nature of the voluntary measures, the personal health risk, the public health risk and the procedure that will be followed should he or she refuse voluntary measures. |
| (6) | The head of a provincial department is required— |
| (a) | to revise the decision to apply for a court order when the conditions of mandatory action change; |
| (b) | where a court order has been issued, to approach a court to amend a court order as conditions of the mandatory action change. |