Workers on Wednesday : healthcare financing; the state of healthcare and the working class

Abstract

Health care financing in South Africa is inadequate, and in recent years we have been moving away from achieving the Abuja target of 15% government funding for health care. This has resulted in numerous crises in the public health sector, and most South Africans (about 41 million) are unable to access decent, adequate health care, as enshrined in our constitution. To increase public health funding in South Africa, the government has proposed the introduction of a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. In-studio guests on the show were: Prof Di Mc Intyre – SA Research Chair in 'HEALTH & WEALTH', Health Economics Unit, UCT and EQUINET Fair Financing Theme Co-ordinator; Sheila Barsel – NEHAWU Policy Unit; and Dr Siva Pillay - Member of Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Health (SA).