South Africa’s public healthcare system finds itself caught between two incomplete revolutions – the democratic dream of a decentralised District Health System, and the march toward National Health Insurance. Health systems experts argue that structural changes won’t save a system that is scared stiff. The most urgent task facing the system, they say, is to help frontline doctors and nurses reimagine what is possible.
From the limited rollout of a new HIV prevention jab to developments with new weight loss medicines, to high-stakes court cases relating to National Health Insurance (NHI), 2026 is set to be another tumultuous year in healthcare. Here are nine stories that Spotlight will keep a close eye on.
Government and the private sector could work together much more effectively to improve healthcare services in South Africa, but the potential of such a partnership remains largely untapped, delegates heard last week at the Hospital Association of South Africa conference.
2023 was a busy year for healthcare in South Africa. We saw several promising policy developments, landmark court cases, important pieces of legislation, and some changes in leadership. Yet, take a step back and at facility level little seems to have changed. Shortages of healthcare workers persist, corruption is still rife, budgets tight, and our health governance crisis remains as acute as ever. Marcus Low looks back at the year in health in fewer than 1 000 words.
Concerns around corruption and whether or not there would be health coverage for foreign nationals were two of the top talking points at a recent public hearing on the National Health Insurance Bill held in the Eastern Cape. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
It is often enlightening to ask how and why certain services differ in the ways they do between the private and public healthcare sectors. By too rigidly focusing on the NHI Bill, argues Spotlight Editor Marcus Low, government risks losing sight of the many other interesting answers to this and other important questions about healthcare reform in South Africa.
One of the most damaging aspects of our public discourse on National Health Insurance is the mistaken notion in some quarters that the only two options are NHI and the status quo, argues Marcus Low.
In May, Dr Magome Masike stepped into the role of CEO and registrar of the Health Professions Council (HPCSA). Eight weeks into the job, Ufrieda Ho sat down to talk to him about his plans for the beleaguered institution.
René Sparks qualified as a nurse 21 years ago. Now, on International Nurses Day, she reflects on her journey and what’s needed to ensure a better future for nursing in South Africa.
Round two of the Presidential Health Summit centred on getting closer to realising National Health Insurance, but the question of how to do this remains murky. Ufrieda Ho reports.
South Africa’s health ombud Professor Malegapuru Makgoba’s tenure as ombud will end at the end of May. Bienne Huisman spoke to him about headline-making investigations into the Life Esidemeni tragedy and conditions at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, his childhood in Limpopo, and how he side-stepped former President Nelson Mandela’s invitation to join the African National Congress.
The Health Department’s recent response to submissions and its own recommendations on amendments to the National Health Insurance Bill sadly does not realise the gravity of the threat to the future of medicine selection and access. As the Bill currently stands, it will leave us at the mercy of advisory committees that bear no duty to be transparent in deciding which medicines people will be able to access under NHI, the authors argue.
