Ramaphosa: ‘Abandon self-interest and mobilise behind NHI’ - MedicalBrief 291 - 27 Feb 2020

Ramaphosa: ‘Abandon self-interest and mobilise behind NHI’ - MedicalBrief 291 - 27 Feb 2020

MedicalBrief 291 - 27 Feb 2020 

"President Cyril Ramaphosa said that public hearings show “broad support” for National Health Insurance and that South Africans “must move away from a culture driven solely by self-interest and embrace the spirit of ubuntu” to mobilise behind the NHI, writes MedicalBrief.

Countrywide public hearings on the 2019 National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill have come to an end, and according to the National Assembly Health Committee, “the majority of participants … pronounced their unwavering support for the Bill”, calling for its “immediate implementation”. This, notes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch, is mainly because of the benefits poorer communities expect to receive under the universal healthcare system envisaged.

However, “in most cases” support for the Bill was expressed on the understanding that ongoing public sector healthcare “challenges” are addressed. Statements on hearings held in Tshwane and Mogale City refer to the shortage of doctors, nurses and medicines, glaringly inadequate infrastructure and low levels of ‘accountability’.

The NHI hearings have set alarm bells ringing, says a Spotlight report.
The report said: The NHI dream rolled into Gauteng this past weekend with the utopian hopes for South Africa’s national health insurance summed up in a double-page colour pamphlet handed out by the department of health at the hearings. The glossy pamphlet speaks of “ubuntu” and “taking care of each other”. The stock pic images show the big smiles of happy patients and practitioners. It states that quality healthcare will be “free through the right referral pathways” that “government will upgrade all facilities to ensure that there is no difference between a public and private facility” and that “government may introduce a small tax” to fund NHI."

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https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/ramaphosa-abandon-self-interest-and-mobilise-behind-nhi/