Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
16 May 2024 | 16:00 CAT
2 min read

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law despite vehement opposition from the medical community. The bill proposes the establishment of universal healthcare in South Africa, providing free healthcare to all citizens and paying healthcare professionals and facilities directly by the state.

However, private doctors and health sector organisations strongly reject the bill, citing concerns about its impact on the healthcare system.

Dr Mvuyisa Mzuka, the South African Medical Association (SAMA) chairperson, expressed concern over the NHI Bill in an interview with Radio Islam.

“Nothing has changed; we have been engaging with the government right from the green paper to the white paper to the policy and the Bill itself. We have always voiced out that we support the objectives of the NHI, but we have a serious problem with its current form. We have pointed out that it only addresses one aspect of the healthcare system, attending to finance, negating ethical governance and leadership and speaks nothing about human resources for health, nor how are we going to populate vacancies. Nothing about infrastructure, vaccines or technologies either. If you are going to reform the whole system, you can’t just focus on one aspect, which is finance; even with finance, there is a serious trust issue expressed by the public,” he said.

Medical professionals argue that the bill lacks clarity on key elements, infringes on doctors’ rights, and could lead to a decline in the quality of healthcare.

“The problem is we are not getting clarity, only rhetoric. There is nothing that speaks to the trust issue. If you have a government and his government that are not trustworthy, how do you expect us to trust when people are pulling funds in one place and think that will be protected?” said Dr. Mzukwa.

Some doctors are threatening to leave the country or the medical profession altogether in response to the bill. According to Dr. Mzukwa, the issue of professionals leaving the country has already occurred; they are not waiting to leave.

“Firstly, our system is not well run, and people have been getting attractive packages in other countries. Our medical professionals are well-trained and world-class; they are sought after by many countries. If there is uncertainty in South Africa, that would be a push factor. It was important for us to get clarity from the government so there is certainty, but on the other hand, this government has a track record of not being able to pay service providers,” he said.

Despite the government’s assurance of funding through taxes, there are uncertainties about the bill’s long-term effects on healthcare provision and professionals’ livelihoods.

LISTEN to the full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany and Dr Mvuyisa Mzuka of SAMA, here.