Collaboration was key

Dr Angelique Coetzee

There were a lot of positives to take away from how SA had dealt with the pandemic, said Coetzee, who is head of the South African Medical Association.

“A positive was around the removal of certain competition regulations allowing different health-care groups to speak to each other and share critical life-saving information.

“Collaboration across the health-care industry proved crucial for saving lives.” SA learnt from other countries, she said. “The time Covid-19 took to arrive in SA gave a crucial window. We were able to see from other countries what treatments worked and what didn’t.”

A big negative was how the advice from the ministerial advisory committee, while accepted by the health minister, was often ignored by other departments — as could be seen through the type of regulations issued.

Coetzee said the national health department engaged with private health care but, other than in the Western Cape, very few provincial health departments followed suit.