African leaders must be treated in their own countries: Motsoaledi

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi wants all African heads of state to be treated in their own countries when they are ill. Currently they travel to Europe, the Far East and America for high-level care.

Thabile Mbhele, SABC News - Saturday 12 December 2015.

Speaking in Pretoria during the official release of the White Paper on the National Health Insurance (NHI) on Friday, Motsoaledi says they should be exposed to the problems of their own countries in order to improve healthcare. 

 "I raised this issue at the World Health Organisation Africa region when we were discussing Ebola that until such time that heads of states on this continent stay in their own countries for treatment they won't recognise this problem.

"They won't know they exist. They must stay and be treated there and see that in a normal hospital all these things are not happening and understand that it is because of this and how to change this," Motsoaledi says.

Motsoaledi also says the objective of the system is to provide equal access to affordable healthcare.

"The word stock exchange and health provisioning can never exist in the same sentence. It's impossible because it's a very clear contradiction of section 27 of the constitution that put healthcare as a right, the stock exchange works on the basis of profits and super profits."