Structuring Sustainable Universal Health Care in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-245
Author(s):  
Salimah Valiani
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
South African ◽  
Health Care Financing ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Universal Health Care ◽  
African Health ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Universal Health

Intervening in debates around universal health care in South Africa, this article draws on class-based analytical tools from social medicine, political economy, and historical sociology. It is argued there are 3 keys to achieving sustainable universal health care in South Africa: addressing the socioeconomic roots of ill health; establishing a fully public, nonprofit health care system; and adequate investment in undervalued female workers who are the backbone of public health care. Each key is discussed with accompanying recommendations, using evidence from South Africa and other countries. Principal constraints are also identified through an analysis demonstrating the links between inequality, health care financing, and the monopoly structure of the South African health care industry.

Book Review: Sanjeev Kelkar, India’s Public Health Care Delivery, Policies for Universal Health Care

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-253
Author(s):  
Nandini Jayakumar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Delivery ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Universal Health Care ◽  
Universal Health

Sanjeev Kelkar, India’s Public Health Care Delivery, Policies for Universal Health Care. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, xix + 496 pp., Ä 93.08. ISBN: 9789813341791 (Hardback).

scholarly journals Consulting the South African experts in physiotherapeutic stroke rehabilitation

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Hale ◽  
C. J. Eales
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
South African ◽  
Stroke Rehabilitation ◽  
Delphi Technique ◽  
Rehabilitation Services ◽  
The South ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
African Health ◽  
South African Health

This paper presents the opinions of expert physiotherapists on what constitutes optimal stroke rehabilitation in South Africa. Data were collected by the use of the Delphi technique. Consensus was reached after two rounds, and the respondents’ views are summarised and discussed within the framework of South African health care. Results showed that physiotherapy was felt to be very important after stroke, and the survey created a profile of the skills that physiotherapists may require in order to work in this field. However, no new or innovative methods by which appropriate rehabilitation services could be delivered in South Africa were generated by the survey.The Delphi technique is described and its use in this survey considered.

scholarly journals The Demand for Alternative Forms of Financing Universal Health Care in Canada: A Literature Review

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Samantha Laxton ◽  
Sanni Yaya
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Current System ◽  
Health Care Financing ◽  
Universal Health Care ◽  
Price Inflation ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Medical Savings Accounts ◽  
Alternative Measures ◽  
Universal Health

<div class="page" title="Page 32"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>The discourse surrounding the unsustainability of financing universal health care in Canada has led many stakeholders to evaluate the current system in or- der to consider alternative forms of funding. Several health care financing mod- els have been suggested and include Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), in- creased taxation and targeting policy to control specific cost drivers such as price inflation of physician and hospital services. This paper targets health care pro- fessionals, researchers and policy makers and calls for more awareness in evalu- ating public health reform initiatives for alternative measures of financing Uni- versal Health Care. Public reform must be critically considered in order to im- prove the cost and delivery of health care services since private methods ulti- mately impede on individual and population determinants of health. Discussed here are alternative financing strategies with an evaluation of benefits, limita- </span><span>tions, and future recommendations for Canada’s health care system. </span></p></div></div></div>

South African health decentralisation: requiring contextually intelligent leaders

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Ellenore Meyer ◽  
Leena Thomas ◽  
Selma Smith ◽  
Caren Scheepers
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Health System ◽  
South African ◽  
Decision Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
African Health ◽  
South African Health

Subject area Public Health; Leadership; Organisational Development; Organisational Behaviour; Public Administration Management. Study level/applicability Postgraduate level for honours or masters programmes in courses on public health; executive leadership and management programmes; MBA level. Case overview The case unpacks decentralisation as a means to promote and improve local decision-making and accountability through community participation and engagements. Ayanda Nkele was a programme manager in a health district in South Africa. He was faced with many challenges when trying to implement his programme, most of which were related to local authority, responsibilities and decision-making abilities at his level. This case describes briefly the South African health system. and how it functions. It describes the proposed changes to the health system and its transformation towards Universal Health Coverage. The decision space analysis as discussed in the case illustrates the types of decentralisation in the country and how this also applies to Nkele’s level. Expected learning outcomes Understanding the concepts and principles of decentralisation within the context of strengthening district health services, the re-engineering of primary health care (PHC) and rolling out a National Health Insurance in South Africa. Applying the “decision space” approach to analyse the extent of decentralisation. Grasping the requirement of leaders to be “contextually intelligent” and identify the important contextual variables to take into account when analysing public health care. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

The relative efficiency of South African municipalities in providing public health care

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-365
Author(s):  
Josue Mbonigaba ◽  
Saidou Baba Oumar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health System ◽  
South African ◽  
Relative Efficiency ◽  
National Health System ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Primary Health

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the relative efficiency of South African municipalities in primary health care and hospital care is different and whether South African municipalities can learn from each other to improve on their efficiency. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs efficiency scores, estimated with data envelopment analysis using data from the District Health Barometer of the Health Systems Trust to rank South African municipalities across primary health care and hospital health care. Findings The finding is that the ranking of municipalities is not the same across both types of health care when efficiency scores and efficiency score growth are contemplated. These results imply that municipalities in South Africa are generally inefficient, but with the possibility of learning from each other’s practice in order to increase their technical efficiency. Practical implications The health system authority should monitor service-specific best practices among municipalities so that they can use them as practice guidelines for other municipalities. Originality/value Previous studies in South Africa have not dis-aggregated efficiency analysis across municipalities which are health system components of the broader national health system.

scholarly journals Privatisation of South African health care: In whose interest?

Curationis ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
H.C.J Van Rensburg ◽  
A. Fourie
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
South African ◽  
Health Care Delivery ◽  
Patient Population ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
African Health ◽  
South African Health

In this article, essentially a critique on the privatisation of health care delivery in South Africa, the concept and social phenomenon of privatisation is analysed and evaluated, and the detrimental side-effects and latent consequences thereof dismantled. It is argued that the privatisation of South African health care is a reflection of narrow economistic thinking that will neither contribute to the more efficient functioning of the existing health care system nor alleviate the prevailing problems of shortages of resources and deficiencies in organisation. Privatisation of South African health care is in the last instance and in many respectse not in the interest of the patient population in all its diversity.

scholarly journals Achieving universal health coverage for people with stroke in South Africa: protocol for a scoping review

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e041221
Author(s):  
Sjan-Mari van Niekerk ◽  
Gakeemah Inglis-Jassiem ◽  
Sureshkumar Kamalakannan ◽  
Silke Fernandes ◽  
Jayne Webster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Health ◽  
Ethical Approval ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Universal Health

IntroductionStroke is the second most common cause of death after HIV/AIDS and a significant health burden in South Africa. The extent to which universal health coverage (UHC) is achieved for people with stroke in South Africa is unknown. Therefore, a scoping review to explore the opportunities and challenges within the South African health system to facilitate the achievement of UHC for people with stroke is warranted.Methods and analysisThe scoping review will follow the approach recommended by Levac, Colquhoun and O’Brien, which includes five steps: (1) identifying the research question, (2) identifying relevant studies, (3) selecting the studies, (4) charting the data, and (5) collating, summarising and reporting the results. Health Systems Dynamics Framework and WHO Framework on integrated people-centred health services will be used to map, synthesise and analyse data thematically.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval is not required for this scoping review, as it will only include published and publicly available data. The findings of this review will be published in an open-access, peer-reviewed journal and we will develop an accessible summary of the results for website posting and stakeholder meetings.

scholarly journals The Public, the Private and the Changing Expectations for Everyday Welfare Services: The Case of Finnish Parents Seeking Private Health Care for their Children

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Liina Sointu ◽  
Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen ◽  
Liisa Häikiö
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Universal Health Care ◽  
The Public ◽  
Universal Health Care System ◽  
Universal Health ◽  
Care System

This article sheds light on a policy area where the notion of the active citizen has gained prominence as part of the transformation of the welfare state: purchasing private health services and private health insurance for children in Finland. Although the country’s universal health care system offers free primary health care for children, 40 per cent of children now have private insurance. Drawing on interviews with parents who seek private solutions, we examine what they perceive to be good health care. Our analysis reveals that parents are looking for certain practices – in Finland available only in the private sector – that they see as signs of good care. The unavailability of these practices in public health care calls into question the access, quality and efficiency of the public system. Based on these findings, we discuss the possible consequences of the disparity between parents’ expectations and the universal health care system.

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