Give the public access to private healthcare, says govt

Private health facilities should be more accessible to the general public, Health Department Director General Thami Mseleku said on Friday.

Speaking at a primary healthcare conference in Boksburg, he suggested a system that provides for the government to refund private hospitals and clinics for treating patients without medical funds.

“Primary healthcare in the private sector should be made accessible to the public ... it would basically mean a [system] of public health insurance,” Mseleku said.

Earlier, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told delegates that a shortage of human resources is the main obstacle to providing proper healthcare.

“We don’t have enough people in the [public health] sector… they move from public to private; they migrate between the urban and the rural.”

The conference resolved to ask for an increase in the national health budget for primary healthcare services, to at least double the amount currently spent on each person.

The conference was attended by representatives of the government, the public and private health sectors, organised labour and health representatives from Namibia, Tanzania, Ghana and Brazil.—Sapa