‘Stop going overseas, fix your own country’s health systems’, Phophi Ramathuba tells political leaders

Limpopo health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba has lambasted the tendency of African political leaders to access healthcare internationally while they leave a collapsing system they could have fixed in their own countries.

Ramathuba was speaking as one of the panellists at the three-day Africa Health Indaba taking place in Midrand, Gauteng. The event is being attended by thought leaders and politicians in the health sector from across Africa in an effort to dissect the future of healthcare in the continent.

“When I am sick I can be flown to a five-star medical centre and we don’t care. We die in Turkey and Singapore hospitals.

“When you get to those hospitals it is five-star service. But who is paying for that? The very same poor and vulnerable we have left behind. No African leader must consult in another country. They must fix their own system. Die in your own country and hospitals,” she said to a cheering audience.

Ramathuba said as health MEC in a province that borders Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique, her system is overwhelmed and due to a lack of collaboration in the Sadc region, there are no solutions or interventions.

“I can complain about undocumented persons in the system but I can’t complain about a mosquito jumping over the border and coming to South Africa and making people sick. I can use preventative measures all I want but if my counterparts are not doing the same I will not succeed.”

It is her view the healthcare system has not been adopted for African ways of living.

“If you look at how we were raised as Africans, we had a healthy lifestyle. Before we ate meat we had to chase the animal and catch it. It would have lost kilos. Now we eat chickens that have thighs bigger than mine.

“When we move from villages and adopt the city life, did our healthcare prepare us for the changes? We created problems for ourselves. We have to develop healthcare systems that respond to our problems,” she said.

Dr Bandile Hadebe, from the Africa Health Indaba secretariat, said the healthcare system has to keep up with technological advances to provide better care.

“We need to be intentional in driving research and innovation. During Covid-19 in Africa, we experienced a situation where we had to beg for gloves, masks, and other personal protective equipment from other countries. By the time we needed to negotiate for vaccines, we were at the end of the queue.

“We need to stop relying on other continents for healthcare supplies and medication. Healthcare is behind and not catching up with the adoption of technology. We need to get to a point where we think digital first,” said Hadebe.

Policies such as National Health Insurance will need an aggressive digital drive to succeed, he added.

The conference continues.

TimesLIVE