Mark Heywood on Making the National Health Insurance Scheme Work for All South Africans
Channel: SACSIS
Date: 08/08/2013

On 2 August 2013, The South African Civil Society Information Service and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation South Africa Office (FES) co-hosted a panel discussion on the theme, "Making the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHI) Work for All South Africans - Can It Be Achieved?"

The South African government's NHI scheme presents an important opportunity to develop a better healthcare system that works for all its citizens. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to close the gap between public and private healthcare and develop a unified world-class healthcare system that all South Africans could have confidence in -- but how do we achieve this goal? 

The questions we put to our panelists were: How does our government intend to develop a unified healthcare system that all South Africans feel is safe and affordable to use? What are the responsibilities of the state, the medical fraternity and the public in general towards developing such a system? Most importantly, how can we use the NHI as an opportunity to build greater social cohesion, in South Africa, around the delivery of an important social good that all South Africans can share in equally?

Mark Heywood, Executive Director, Section 27 was a keynote speaker at the event. He argued that "bad public health is good private business." Over R20 billion is spent annually out of pocket on expensive private healthcare services, which, in his view, are not world class. He also said that there will be no NHI in South Africa, if there is not a movement for a national health system. At the moment there is not a health movement in South Africa.

To watch a clip of the entire event, please follow this link:
http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/1750