Ombudsman backs health care for all plan

SOUTH Africa’s health ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba has come out in support of the proposed National Health Insurance Bill.

Yesterday, Makgoba said the tabling of the white paper on the NHI by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi for public comment provided an opportunity to discuss and find lasting solutions to improving health care in the country.

The call for support came after Motsoaledi vowed that all psychiatric patients would become the responsibility of national government to avoid a repeat of the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

Motsoaledi said while the deaths happened in Gauteng, all nine provincial health departments would cease to have powers to look after psychiatric patients.

He also promised to provide Gauteng and Kwazulu-natal with all necessary equipment to treat cancer patients, saying all that was part of his NHI plan.

Makgoba said there was an urgent need for a universal access to health care in the country. “We dare not fail on this ambitious challenge. South Africa’s National Planning Commission (NPC) recommended Universal Health Care as the policy option in 2012, almost three years before the UN and WHO, as part of its recommendation to address the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

“This was endorsed by all political parties in Parliament and must now be implemented,” he said.

Makgoba said a similar system was implemented 70 years ago in Britain, the National Health Service (NHS).

“Over the 70 years of the UK’S NHS existence passionate debates have and continue to take place on matters of governance, manpower (human resources), leadership and funding.

“These are real painful implementation issues, all meant to improve the functioning and better translation of the NHS concept in reality on the ground,” he emphasised.

Makgoba said Motsoaledi had led and championed universal health care, saying he “started the race, led the race and must complete the race”.

The British model was similar to that proposed by Motsoaledi as hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists were brought together under one umbrella organisation, the NHS, that was free for all at the point of delivery.

“The central principles were clear: the health service will be available to all and financed entirely from taxation, which means that people pay into it according to their means,” he said.

Makgoba said the British system was based on the model that the “the rich must subsidise the poor to establish and provide universal health care”.

“As South Africans. we should therefore not focus our discussion or debates on accepting the principle or the concept of universal health care. We should take this as a given.

“Like in many countries, the concept should be accepted as it offers the only and best option currently available.”

The NHI, implemented properly, would not only address all the challenges the country faced within the health system but would also “transform the health system progressively and fundamentally.

“We dare not fail on this ambitious challenge.” In our edition of June 9, we erroneously identified the Mabola Protected Environment Landowners Association as part of an eight-member coalition that recently launched a judicial review application to set aside the decision of the Mpumalanga Department of Environmental Affairs to grant environmental authorisation to Atha-africa Ventures and the decision of the MEC to dismiss the coalition’s appeal in the Mbombela High Court. We regret the error.