One of the most damaging aspects of our public discourse on National Health Insurance (NHI) is the mistaken notion in some quarters that the only two options are NHI and the status quo, argues Marcus Low.
While COVID-19 will continue to make headlines for some time, 2021 will also be a critical year for healthcare reforms in South Africa and for various aspects of the country’s HIV and TB response. These are Spotlight’s top 12 healthcare questions for the year.
A year after the Competition Commission released its Health Market Inquiry (HMI) report, there has been very little action in addressing the report’s findings. Now, a notice the Competition Commission sent to stakeholders in September suggests there may finally be some movement. Elri Voigt reports.
Even as the need for a more equitable health system is being demonstrated, news has broken of large-scale corruption in the procurement of PPE. This makes it difficult for a population worn down by corruption to envisage the transformation of the health system into a system of contracting and procurement under National Health Insurance, writes Sasha Stevenson.
While COVID-19 tests in the private sector are often processed within a day or two – even if the test is not urgent – many patients in public sector hospitals have to wait a week or more. Amy Green investigates the stark differences between public and private sector testing in South Africa.
As COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise, so does the need for hospital beds. Kathryn Cleary explores the agreements that will see some public sector COVID-19 patients going to private hospitals and asks what this means for NHI.
The two Netcare private hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal hardest hit by COVID-19 outbreaks, reopened this week with lessons that there’s no room to drop the ball when it comes to infection control. UFRIEDA HO reports.
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize must use all the legal mechanisms at his disposal to ensure that the constitutional imperative that everyone has the right to have access to health care services is realised, writes Nkululeko Conco and Tendai Mafuma.
Amy Green asked the Department of Health and others what happens next following the release of a landmark report into private healthcare in South Africa.
Government has failed in its duty to regulate the private health sector which is “neither efficient or competitive”, according to the Competition Commission’s report on the Health Market Inquiry (HMI) into the private sector.
