Dear Editor
The Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, continues to push the National Health Insurance (NHI), despite doctor unemployment crippling South Africa’s public health system. Despite the Department’s inability to hire and retain sufficient medical personnel, the Minister’s fixation on NHI raises serious concerns about his commitment to improving health care.
The NU8 Clinic in Motherwell in Gqeberha was forced to close because it did not have enough personnel to operate letting a whole community down, yet the Department spent R1.4 billion on the NHI in the last financial year.
Last year, there were 2 000 vacant positions nationally in public hospitals, contributing to a significant decline in the quality of health care provided to South Africans. Yet, the Minister chooses to allocate resources to the NHI, rather than prioritising the hiring of doctors who are desperately needed in the system.
Minister Motsoaledi has continued to rubbish NHI costings done by the private sector all while being unable or unwilling to provide one himself. Momentum’s costing projected that the NHI could cost the country as much as R1.3 trillion annually if private sector spend of R21 000 a year for each of the country’s 9 million medical scheme beneficiaries are to be the standard for South Africa’s 63 million residents. Even with savings through medical aid tax credits and enhanced scale, the cost is still an astronomical R900 billion per year.
The Department spent 94% of its budget allocated to the NHI last year yet only achieved 50% of targets. The NHI is already a failure and hasn’t even been implemented yet.
Minister Motsoaledi’s push for the NHI shows that he has lost sight of his mandate to provide quality health care. The NHI might have been inspired by a desire to serve the poor and vulnerable, but unless fundamental changes are made, the awful reality will undermine the great dream.
If Minister Motsoaledi truly wished to create universal access to quality health care, he would first ensure that the world in which he aims to build his dream is ready to realise it. He would ensure that corrupt and inept officials are fired and criminally charged. He would ensure that hospitals and clinics are havens of safety and cleanliness filled with individuals who wish to serve their fellow human beings through quality health care. He would ensure that these medical professionals had all the equipment and supplies so that patients were treated in a timely manner and did not leave hospitals sicker than when they arrived.
But Minister Motsoaledi is not interested in addressing the basic issues that would give almost immediate improvement. He would rather not face the truth, and yell and shout when he is called out for it.
Regards
Michele Clarke MP
DA Spokesperson on Health
Marine Dre
Roses are red
Violets are glorious
Never try to surprise
Oscar pistorious
Dredd
Is it? – Is that so? [iz-zit] A basic conversational word that can be inserted at various points in any conversation, meaning “oh, wow!” or “Is that so?” It can also be used when you don’t really feel like talking and don’t want to be rude but want to seem as if you’re listening. Example: “Last week we went on a game drive! Sho my bru! We saw loads of antelope!” “Is it, hey!”