As the first draft regulations for the National Health Insurance Act are soon to be released for public comment, stakeholders who say their previous submissions on the legislation have been ignored, are wondering if their input will be considered seriously now.
This comes as Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is doubling down on plans to impement the NHI and is yet to meet stakeholders opposed to sections of the legislation, notes MedicalBrief.
Motsoaledi has likened strategies used by opponents of the NHI to that employed by the apartheid government. At the International Pharmaceutical Federation Congress last week, he told delegates that the NHI had become “the modern-day swart gevaar of the apartheid government”.
Motsoaledi referenced tactics like the fear-mongering headlines used in the early 1990s to scare the public about Nelson Mandela’s imminent presidency, resulting in some white people hoarding groceries and candles “for when the darkness came when a black man ascends to the throne”.
He said this “type of strategy” was being focused on universal health coverage, but that there was a need to invest in sustainable and equitable health financing. …more
