South Africa’s healthcare model needs to shift from being “hospi-centric” to more preventative if the country is to win the fight against the burden of diseases, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said on Friday.
Motsoaledi was addressing the First Global Ministerial Conference on healthy lifestyles and non-communicable diseases in Moscow.
The conference is being attended by health ministers from across the world, as well as United Nations Secretary General Ban Kin-Moon and World Health Organisation (WHO) head Margaret Chan.
Too expensive, not sustainable
Motsoaledi said the hospi-centric model of health delivery in South Africa was too expensive and not sustainable.
“Waiting for people to first get ill and then receive them in hospitals for treatment is not a correct model of health delivery,” he said.
South Africa was now shifting focus to primary healthcare (PHC) and the country had embarked on an extensive programme to re-engineer PHC services.
“Our PHC model places focus on prevention of diseases and health promotion,” he said.
South Africa was one of the countries in the world with a high burden of non-communicable diseases, such as cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension, cancers and diabetes, with type 2 diabetes becoming more prominent among teenagers.
“A lot of these diseases are caused by poor diet, tobacco, alcohol abuse and lack of exercise,” Motsoaledi said. — Sapa