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Mail & Guardian

Universal Health Coverage

latest news & developments
Luxury: South Africa’s two-tier healthcare system offers selective protection to those who can afford medical aid contributions, co-payments and out-of-pocket expenses. (Photo Archive)
CONSTITUTION

NHI is bugbear of the upper crust

It is the political and economic fightback of those who have long enjoyed the luxury of world-class care where wealth buys life, dignity and speed, while the poor are forced to…

  • Cornelius Monama
7 min read
‘Unsupervised, unstructured, non-standardised, unsafe and altogether substandard.’ This is what was said about the care at two public hospitals in the Northern Cape last year. But is the way quality is measured a fair test? (Delwyn Verasamy)
HEALTH

Unsafe and substandard. Is that what public healthcare in SA looks like?

Claims of poor standards at South Africa’s government health facilities are often bandied about — and get hackles raised when the National Health Insurance is mentioned, to boot

  • Linda Pretorius
  • Jacques Verryn
8 min read
Newborn children in sub-Saharan Africa are 14 times more likely to die within the first month than those in high-income regions such as Australia and New Zealand.
GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS

Close the global healthcare gap: Solutions for a more equitable future

A comprehensive, multi-sector approach would help medical care in emerging countries catch up with those in more established nations

  • Asgar Rangoonwala
5 min read
Private sector healthcare schemes will still have a role to play when the government implements the National Health Insurance because the treasury cannot finance the system on its own.
BUSINESS

Treasury reassures private sector over National Health Insurance fears

The private healthcare sector and medical aid schemes have warned that, if they are excluded, it would damage the entire system

  • Aarti Bhana
4 min read
The future of our healthcare system is in our hands; we approach it with responsibility, collaboration and a deep commitment to the well-being of all people. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE

Navigating the road to universal health coverage in South Africa

Our success will depend on a combination of strategic planning, effective governance and a commitment to collaboration across sectors

  • Reno Morar
4 min read
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, shows the signed bill for National Health Insurance signed into law in Pretoria, South Africa, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
PUBLIC VS PRIVATE HEALTHCARE

The National Health Insurance means a higher tax burden for South Africans

If value-added tax were to be used to fund the insurance, it would have to rise from 15% to 21.5%

  • Anathi Madubela
5 min read
AFRICA

A new era of vaccine sovereignty in Africa beckons

COMMENT: The AU has laid out a clear path for the continent to produce its own vaccines

  • Robert Agyarko
5 min read