National Health Insurance will ensure equitable medical care for all

The purpose of National Health Insurance (NHI) is to ensure affordable and equitable medical care is available to all in South Africa and not just to those who can afford it.

RDM News Wire, 20 September 2015

This was the message conveyed to delegates attending the annual conference of the South Africa Medical Association (SAMA) in Johannesburg at the weekend by Dr Aquina Thulare‚ technical specialist on health economics for the National Health Insurance (NHI) in the Department of Health.

Her responsibilities are in the areas of policy and legislative development as well as the development of the implementation plan for the NHI. Thulare said South Africa's healthcare system is highly fragmented and unequal in terms of human resources‚ and the medical profession is highly skewed towards the private sector.

More than 60 percent of the poorest in South Africa have the highest need for healthcare but derive the least from the health system. She said it was for this reason that NHI was being implemented as it would create fairness and equity in healthcare in South Africa and ensure healthcare was available to those that needed it most. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told the conference that although the White Paper on the government's plans for National Health Insurance had not been released "a lot is going on behind the scenes".