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Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi

 While medical scheme premiums are increasing, patient care is declining 

“We exceed GDP [gross domestic product] of health care costs....We are a country spending more on health but having poor outcomes,” he told delegates at the annual Competition Commission conference in Johannesburg.

In 2009, the health expenditure in South Africa was 8.51% of GDP, according to a World Bank report. This was considerably higher than the 5% recommended by the World Health Organisation.  

Motsoaledi said uncontrolled commercialisation was “consuming” health care in the country.

“Part of the reason for this is due to a lack of basic essentials, caused in part by uncontrolled commercialism... whereby tenders come first and health care comes last,” he said.

Motsoaledi said inflation on items were costing medical aid companies, including Discovery, about R2 billion a year and had resulted in escalated medical premiums.

In “desperation” medical aids were reducing benefits “further and further”, he said, adding that the regulation of the private sector proved to be difficult.

An inquiry was needed to deal with this because health care had to be customised to meet the needs of the patient.

“There is only one loser... and it’s the patient... when medical aids don’t pay in full, the patient is still the loser.. the patient is always the loser,” said Motsoaledi.  

“In South Africa, we still think little of primary health care... While premiums [of medical schemes] are increasing, patient care is declining.” 

He noted that due to the global economic crisis, many countries were tempted to reduce social services, especially health.

“Health is a public good and not just any other commodity.

“I don’t know any minister of health in the world who is not worried about the affordability of health care.” 

He said health was not something that could recover because if someone was ill, they might die.

Referring to the Declaration of Alma-Ata, the minister said more needed to be done to make the dream a reality. The Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care in 1978. It expressed the need for urgent action by all governments and the world community to protect and promote the health of all people. This was the first international declaration underlining the importance of primary health care. It resolved to achieve “health for all by the year 2000”.

“This dream never happened,” said Motsoaledi.

He said there were two types of health care: costly private care for the privileged and second-rate care for everyone else.

“Medical aid schemes punish the poor... Health care is simply becoming unaffordable to people in the world.” 

On the National Health Insurance (NHI), Motsoaledi said it was not a beauty contest between the public and private sector. It was an attempt to better the services to the people of South Africa. The NHI is a financing system that aims to ensure citizens are provided with essential health care, regardless of their employment status and ability to make a direct monetary contribution.

Meanwhile, healthcare is also becoming a focus of the work of the Competition Commission, as it intends examining the private health system in South Africa and abuse in the markets.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

• Should government rather focus on improving the quality of healthcare being delivered in clinics and state hospitals?
• Healthcare declined when government closed down the nursing schools.
• We don't need another scheme - just fix the broken system in place now.
• Do we need a separate entity like SARS to control tenders, to ensure the money is spent properly?
• Can government run the National Health Insurance Scheme? Or is is better in the hands of the private sector?
• Should government regulate costs, rather than try to run the medical industry itself?
• Did everything go wrong when company non-profit medical aids became medical schemes, answerable to shareholders?
• We know the problems - what is the solution and how can it be implemented?

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Fri May 24 18:10:59 SAST 2013 ::

Sep 7, 2012

_Sinudeity

"South Africa spends more on health care than many other countries yet patient care is declining, says Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi"


Apartheid! :P
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Sep 7, 2012

candilious

@Sin ,...............lol
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Sep 7, 2012

16-12-1838

"South Africa spends more on health care than many other countries yet patient care is declining"...

....But the bank accounts of certain people, with friends in the right places, are severely increasing!
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Sep 7, 2012

MommaC

Doc, leave the damn private industry alone and get the government run hospitals up and running smoothly. People have medical aid because they don't dare go to state hospitals. If state hospitals were halfway decent, we wouldn't be so scared to use them and then private medical would come down as they would need to be competitive.

For goodness sakes, man, Fix the damn public health already and stop being sidetracked by issues that are not even within your mandate
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Sep 7, 2012

The-Vince

Mr Aaron Motsaoledi, since you are the minister of health what is it that you think should be done to improve the situation instead of telling us the problems, how about we find a solution Sir.....you have been put there to make things better right? so do your job and start finding ways of alleviating the current circumstances.
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Sep 7, 2012

Pointman

How come such an important portfolio has had successive doofus in charge. The resulting mess was a given. While Aaron has acknowledged the mess - credit to him - several times now, why hos no one been fired. That always fixes broken organisations.
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Sep 7, 2012

Mokwepa

One Loser is Bafana Bafana
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Sep 7, 2012

Arewanga

I hate south africa especially when the leader is Shower Bald Head Stupid Z...Lu.
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Sep 7, 2012

MorenaWaPolelo

I drove past Bara the other day Doc and I doubt if I would wanna go there, with due respect Sir the place looks like a ........ Sir, I will take my chaces with private health care Sir.
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Sep 7, 2012

The-Vince

ha ha ha ha.....@Sinuedity..lol bro.

You know these days everything is blamed on apartheid, just because some bastards are incompetent, it's been 18yrs and there hasn't been much improvement, still blaming partheid.

Probably he forgot to read the part in his speech that the reason why the health system is in shambles is because of apartheid.
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