National Health Insurance in South Africa
Foundations and Institutes on NHI
http://www.kff.org/southafrica/
“A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on the major health care issues facing the U.S., as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. Unlike grant-making foundations, Kaiser develops and runs its own research and communications programs, sometimes in partnership with other non-profit research organizations or major media companies. We serve as a non-partisan source of facts, information, and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the public. Our product is information, always provided free of charge.” “The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.”
National Health Leaders’ Retreat Muldersdrift, January 24-26 2010
Harrison D. An Overview of Health and Health care in South Africa 1994 – 2010: Priorities, Progress and Prospects for New Gains. A Discussion Document Commissioned by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to Help Inform the National Health Leaders’ Retreat Muldersdrift, January 24-26 2010; 2009. URL: http://www.doh.gov.za/docs/reports/2010/overview1994-2010.pdf
“Idasa is an independent public interest organisation committed to promoting sustainable democracy based on active citizenship, democratic institutions, and social justice.”
http://www.idasa.org.za/
Report on the NHI Roundtable Hosted by Idasa on 19 January 2010, Cape Town
“Idasa hosted a roundtable on the 19th of January 2010 in order to generate debate amongst a range of stakeholders on some of the key questions related to the proposed system. It was hoped that the setting would promote a frank exchange of differing opinions and pave the way for further interaction between stakeholders in the coming months.”
“Idasa’s envisaged future role in the NHI process will be to create further opportunities for multi-stakeholder engagement. We believe such engagement can foster trust between stakeholders and contribute to the broad ownership of health reform in South Africa. We believe such trust and ownership are necessary conditions for the success of health reform.”
The report and presentations can be downloaded from:
http://www.idasa.org/index.asp?page=output_details.asp%3FRID%3D2004%26oplang%3Den%26OTID%3D27%26PID%3D44
PIMS Budget Paper No.7: Where Does Our Money Go? Priority and Progress in the South African Health Budget
http://www.idasa.org.za/gbOutputFiles.asp?WriteContent=Y&RID=2958
“ “5 babies die in 1 day in hospital”; “6th baby dies at JHB hospital”; “100 dead babies at just one hospital”. One week’s headlines. All of which involve newborn babies, still in hospital. This is taking place not in rural but principal city hospitals, such as the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital. Across the city at Chris Hani Baragwanath, one of the world’s biggest hospitals, managers have failed to pay the electricity bills leading to black outs and on/off again electricity spurts.”
“All this suggests large-scale challenges facing the South African public health sector on every level. It also raises questions of whether the health sector is a priority of government and if progress within the health sector is being realised.”
“CDE has released a new publication entitled: A NATION'S HEALTH IN CRISIS: International experience and public-private collaboration (CDE Round Table 16, Nov 2010).” “South Africa’s health sector is in crisis. National health has deteriorated markedly over the past decade. The costs of private health care are beyond the reach of most people; however, public health care offers poor value to citizens and is in a worrying state of decline and dysfunction, with serious consequences for the country.”
“The Department of Health's 10 Point Plan adopted last year is already behind schedule, with rising concerns about management, implementation and monitoring capacity. Given this, it is hard to understand the priority given to a national health insurance scheme when so many other fundamentals of health care in South Africa urgently need to be turned around first.”
“International experience suggests, and many experts believe, that the private sector could make a substantial contribution to health care in South Africa . All these factors provide grounds for an urgent national discussion. In this context CDE, in collaboration with the Aurum Institute for Health Research, recently brought together local and international experts to discuss health systems, health funding, and health policy. Participants heard and discussed stories and lessons from other middle-income countries, and from particular parts of the South African health care system.”
Full report and summary at: http://www.cde.org.za/article.php?a_id=384
“The Institute is an independent think-tank producing research, policy critiques, and risk analysis on South Africa. Our fields of expertise include the economy, business, labour, education, demographics, living conditions, crime, security, healthcare, land reform, service delivery, politics, and government affairs. We benchmark ourselves on telling our subscribers today what they will read in the media in two or three years’ time. Our research and briefing services and publications are made available to subscribers which include 150 of South Africa’s leading corporations, a number of foreign governments, and increasingly South African government departments and agencies.”
The SAIRR publishes Fast Facts which is sometimes devoted to healthcare issues.
Fast Facts no 6 - June 2010: “The first article looks at the public sector, the second at the private sector, and the third at proposals for a national health insurance system. The fourth article looks at medical aid and the African middle class.”
http://sairrorg.nexcess.net/index.php/fast-facts/fast-facts-no-6-june-2010.html
Fast Facts no 10 - October 2010: “The ANC's proposals for a national health insurance system are based on a flawed diagnosis which ignores the multiple failings of the country’s public health care system.”
http://sairrorg.nexcess.net/index.php/fast-facts/fast-facts-no-10-october-2010.html
“The mission of the Helen Suzman Foundation is to defend the values that underpin our liberal constitutional democracy and to promote respect for human rights. The work of the Foundation will be driven by the principles that were exemplified throughout Helen Suzman’s public life, and to this end a research profile will be developed that will focus on public service in all its constituent parts.”
The Helen Suzman Foundation held a roundtable discussion in December 2009 on health. “The Round Table on Health Reform, .... held in association with the Open Society Foundation For South Africa, was attended by some one hundred and sixty members of the public, health practitioners, government officials, financial analysts, bankers and members of the insurance industry.”
http://www.hsf.org.za/past-events/quarterly-roundtable-series/strategic-health-reform
A full report on the discussions is at: http://www.hsf.org.za/resource-centre/quarterly-roundtable-series/issue-thirteen-december-2009/view
“The P>AN has a website that seeks to support the South African policy community by providing resources on policy-related issues in a range of thematic areas: the developmental state, gender, health, poverty, social & economic policy, social innovation and social protection.”
Health section: http://www.pan.org.za/health.html
The first issue of the Policy>Action Network's newsletter, From Evidence to Action was launched in November 2010 and will be published every two months, with the next issue planned for January 2011. Dr Olive Shisana, the CEO of the HSRC, is quoted in the first newsletter.
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