South African National AIDS Council Civil Society Forum (SANAC CSF) has reiterated their support for the establishment of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and are calling for Hon. President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign it into law as soon as the consultation processes of the National Council of Provinces are completed.
In order for the NHI to be accepted by the people, CSF is calling for, among others, water-tight measures, with inputs from National Treasury to be put in place by the Department of Health to manage the NHI Fund and ensure the fund is cushioned from corruption. The Department of Health should ensure the development of an inclusive criteria for the appointment of its Board of Directors, inclusion of other role players in the process of developing the NHI implementation plan. We further call for the amendment of Section 42 of the National Health Act to vest all powers of appointing people who form part of clinic committees and hospital boards to the Minister of Health, not MEC’s.
These measures will assist in ensuring financial accountability and compliance with Public Finance Management Act and will also ensure that the NHI is prioritising key elements that seek to address health reforms with urgency.
“To ensure a people’s centred NHI, civil society, public healthcare users, health activists, private sector health professionals and providers and other interested parties must be involved in the process of developing the NHI implementation plan, governance structures of NHI (NHI Board and sub committees), as well being involved in the oversight process”, says Nqobile Shabalala of Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
In support, Prof Mbulelo Dyasi of the South African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Affected by HIV and AIDS, (SANERELA+), says the NHI is long overdue, and that President Ramaphosa must sign it to law as a matter of urgency.
“We have debated the NHI for many years now and it is apparent that most people are in support, even those who are opposing it do not say they don’t want it, they have said that they have certain concerns. So, what we are saying is, it must be signed into law, while fixing the challenges raised by various stakeholders.”
Meanwhile, Mabalane Mfundisi, Executive Director of Show Me Your Number “whose organisation is in full support of the NHI says “Martin Luther King Jnr said – It is truly unethical for some to wallow in the soft beds of luxury whilst others sink in the quicksands of poverty. In 1993 the people of South Africa had hopes for a better life for all, hence we agreed and supported the call by the Reconstruction & Development Programme (RDP) that in post-apartheid South Africa, all people irrespective of race, gender, social standing, and economic status will enjoy quality Health provided by the state through a universal health care plan. We call on the President, Parliament, and the National Council of Provinces to smash the socio-economic structural construct of apartheid so that this freedom can count for something”.
According to SANAC CSF, the NHI is a platform to ensure the spirit of Section 27 of the South African Constitution and Article 12 of the United Nations Convent on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights1966, are realised.
We call on all Members of the Provincial Legislatures and the National Council of Provinces to do the right thing by ensuring that they fast-track the consultations about the NHI Bill and with speed it is finalised in Parliament and assented into Law by President Ramaphosa. If ever there was a moment to smash the remnants of apartheid, the NHI presents such an opportunity so that all South Africans must enjoy quality health services through a revolutionary system that will emerge when we have one health system and not the current system where there is private health system and public health system.
#ENDS#
For Media Equiries contact:
Nthateng Mhlambiso – SANAC CSF Communications Officer
Mobile: 072 7155425
Email: Nthateng@sanaccsf.org.za