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Proposed Governance Regulations for the NHI Fund have been published.
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) says President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision not to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) after the formation of the Government of National Unity has created uncertainty across the country’s healthcare system.
SAMA Chairperson Mvuyisi Mzukwa says the country is not yet ready for the NHI.
Doctor Mzukwa says the government should focus on improving leadership and governance to better prepare South Africa for universal healthcare.
He says the government must also address the gap between rural and urban areas before the implementation of NHI.
“South Africa is not ready at the moment for the reasons that have been outlined previously. The first one being that we have a serious challenge of leadership and governance. It has been highlighted by many institutions that South Africa does not just have a money problem. It has got a leadership and governance problem. So, South Africa must focus on that. But on top of that, we’ve got issues of shortages of staff, as it was highlighted. We’ve got issues of infrastructure decay. We’ve got an issue of fragmentation in terms of service delivery.”
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