25 000 healthcare professionals will not be signing President’s Health Compact
Media statement from the South African Health Professionals Collaboration (SAHPC)
25 000 healthcare professionals will not be signing President’s Health Compact
- Health Compact nothing more than an attempt to lock in support for the NHI
Johannesburg, 15 August 2024 –
The South African Health Professionals Collaboration (SAHPC) – a national group of 9 medical, dental and allied healthcare practitioners’ associations representing more than 25,000 dedicated private and public sector healthcare workers – will not be signing the President’s Health Compact, saying it is nothing more than an attempt to lock in support for the NHI Act.
While the SAHPC acknowledges that health reforms are necessary to address the challenges in the country’s healthcare system, it believes the way that the Health Compact has been written is fundamentally biased towards solidifying support for the NHI Act as the sole solution to achieving universal health coverage.
“The Compact heavily focuses on the NHI, presenting it as the only viable option for the country, which we don’t accept. Health professionals, including general practitioners, specialists, dentists, and allied workers, are the cornerstone of health provision in this country. Our primary concern is, and always will be, the well-being of patients. We do not believe that the NHI is a viable or workable model for achieving universal health coverage. Our numerous proposals and concerns have not been acknowledged,” says Simon Strachan, a spokesperson for the SAHPC.
“What is needed is urgent formal engagement with the President on the NHI and ways of achieving universal health coverage to ensure health reform is fit for purpose and truly benefits patients, the economy and the country. It is important that health reforms are developed in partnership with all those that are mandated to deliver this critical service.”
Ends
South African Health Professionals Collaboration members:
South African Private Practitioners Forum (SAPPF)
South African Medical Association (SAMA)
Federation of South African Surgeons (FoSAS)
South African Dental Association (SADA)
South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA)
Unity Forum of Family Practitioners (UFFP)
South African Orthopaedic Association (SAOA)
South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SASOG)
Radiological Society of South Africa (RSSA)
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