NHI to form central theme for upcoming GEMS tenth annual Symposium

Monday, 9 October 2017 - The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) will be hosting its tenth annual Symposium at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 12-13 October 2017, and will focus on universal healthcare coverage through the introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Africa.

Commenting on the Symposium, GEMS Principal Officer Dr Guni Goolab, said that this year's Symposium, which is being held under the theme "The first steps towards universal health coverage - affordable, accessible and quality healthcare for all", would provide an important platform for strategic engagement around the transition towards the NHI.

The GEMS Symposium is an annual event that convenes over 200 prominent leaders and stakeholders from across the broader healthcare industry, government institutions, academia, health professionals and policymakers, to discuss critical issues facing the South African healthcare industry today.

"GEMS is an entity founded on the principles of equitable, affordable access, and our position on NHI is therefore resolutely supportive of its introduction as we align the GEMS strategy to the universal healthcare and NHI roadmap," explained Dr Goolab.

"This includes the first steps towards providing quality healthcare that is both affordable and accessible, which are tenets of NHI as stated in the recently published White Paper. The NHI marks a turning point in the transformation of the healthcare industry which is why it comprises the main theme for the Scheme's tenth Symposium," he comments.

Dr Goolab says that a new and much anticipated feature at this year's Symposium is the NHI Collaboration Circles, which will be taking place on the first day of the highly anticipated event.

"These will provide a great opportunity to interact directly with other delegates in smaller group sessions. Each circle will focus on a different topic relating to the conference theme and delegates choose the one they wish to attend based on the topic of interest.

"The sessions will be coordinated by subject matter experts and I encourage all delegates to participate in this exciting new part of the programme."

Day two of the Symposium will comprise a number of panel discussions around the NHI including its impact and collaborative efforts in the successful implementation of NHI, as well as issues around its funding. 

"It is a given that the NHI system will involve both public and private healthcare infrastructure, and require highly efficient administrative and funding models.

"I believe GEMS's experience in both these environments mean that we have much to contribute - both in terms of what has worked for the Scheme and also in terms of the challenges we have faced and sought to overcome since the Scheme was founded," concluded Dr Goolab.