TRUST US FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT
The South African health system faces a multitude of challenges that have hindered its ability to provide adequate healthcare services to citizens. Tragically, the state of our healthcare system reflects a country in crisis. Poor funding, management and maintenance of State-run hospitals and clinics have led to the collapse and dysfunction of many facilities, while many that continue to operate are filthy and under-resourced, causing the deaths of the very patients who should be helped. Essential equipment and medical supplies never reach those who need them, due to corruption, tender fraud and operational mismanagement. Good health and well-being are integral to the overall socio-economic success of our nation. All South Africans deserve access to quality, innovative healthcare.
AN IFP GOVERNMENT WILL:
- Champion universal health coverage. Everyone in South Africa must have equal access to equitable, accessible, quality, state-sponsored health services.
- Clamp down on corruption within the healthcare system while rooting out fruitless, wasteful and irregular expenditure.
- Fix key challenges such as understaffing, inadequate resources, poor leadership and management, and poor infrastructure in the public healthcare system.
- Address the shortage of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and support staff, which compromises the quality of care, by employing unemployed trained healthcare providers.
- Improve working conditions for all healthcare workers.
- Ensure better support and pay for doctors and nurses.
- Ensure the maintenance of existing health infrastructure.
- Lead a process to review the National Health Insurance (NHI) to address its funding model while clearly defining the role of public and private health service providers and that of medical aid schemes.
- Promote a District Health System and Primary Health Care model as crucial components of a functioning health system.
- Overhaul the District Health System to ensure that Primary Health Care is delivered to the population by providing the necessary infrastructure, medicines and other services at the district level.
- Ensure the devolution of powers to provinces and municipalities to run health institutions effectively. Responsibility for ensuring delivery should be devolved to the lowest appropriate and competent level of government. More decision-making powers will be devolved from provincial departments to district managers and health facility managers.
- Ensure that there is at least one regional hospital in each of the 52 health districts and at least one tertiary hospital in each province.
- Expand clinic services in disadvantaged communities.
- Reduce the high cost of medicine for all South Africans.
- Establish provincial centers for medical innovation and research.
- Improve service delivery and ensure additional infrastructure in the National Health Laboratory Services.
- Increase accessibility for complementary and traditional medicines.
- Increase support for mental health services.
- Invoice countries whose citizens are in South Africa illegally and are using the country’s overstretched healthcare services.
