Health is a universally recognised right, and the socioeconomic status of an individual must never be used as a criteria that influences a person’s health status and wellbeing. A human life is a human life – it starts and ends there. And it is for this fundamental reason that South Africa’s healthcare system is about to go through big and lasting changes.
With the presidential assent of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act in May 2024, the country is taking a bold step towards making healthcare fairer, more affordable and accessible for everyone – whether you live in a city or a rural village, whether you’re rich or poor and whether you are employed or not. All these factors should not matter when a person needs healthcare, for health and wellbeing are key contributors to every person living a socially, economically and even culturally fulfilling life.
But what will this actually mean for ordinary South Africans? We need to actively talk about these things and occupy the public space that is often dominated, unfairly so, by those who drive a purposely negative narrative on the matter of universal health coverage. They do so primarily because they have vested and often undeclared interests in ensuring that the status quo remains to the benefit of the few. Of course, the profits that make their pockets heavy ensure that many of our people’s healthcare needs remain unaddressed.
These naysayers are quick to profess their “undying love” for universal health coverage (UHC). However, many label and define UHC incorrectly as a clinical care concept, and fall very short when the consensus requires that rhetoric to manifest into tangible actions that meaningfully improve the health and wellbeing of our people through reforms that make healthcare affordable and accessible for all…..more
