Durban – Responding to an assertion last week by SA Health Professions Council president Dr Kgosi Letlape that medical aids were “a crime against humanity”, the Hospital Association of South Africa (Hasa) on Wednesday expressed its disappointment.
The association said Letlape’s comments, reported in The Mercury, came when the healthcare system faced urgent challenges “that must be addressed if we are to improve healthcare outcomes and if citizens are to enjoy quality and accessible care, and (the comments) are unlikely to assist the collaboration necessary to meet these challenges”.
Letlape made the comments at a discussion with academics and professionals held at UKZN, on whether the NHI white paper met the human rights objectives of the constitution.
He said: “There can be no national health if it is not for all of us. You try to engage about NHI with the privileged, and they say ‘don’t touch my medical aid’. Medical aid is a crime against humanity. It is an atrocity.”
“Unfairly targeting one sector of the healthcare system that provides cover to millions of South Africans who are therefore able to receive necessary treatment, while ignoring challenges like the debilitating shortages of doctors and specialists, the lack of infrastructure and the falling numbers of public sector hospital beds, is not helpful,” said Melanie Da Costa, Hasa chairwoman.
“In South Africa, there are only 60 doctors per 100 000 people – the world average is 152 per 100 000. This one issue affects the entire healthcare system and goes to the heart of whether it is able to function well or not,” she said.
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The association noted that research consultancy Econex indicated that the lack of infrastructure and training capacity in South Africa was at the heart of the problem.
In a research report, “Identifying the determinants of and solutions to the shortage of doctors in South Africa”, the consultancy said that South Africa had eight medical faculties producing doctors, or one medical school per 6.6 million citizens.
“Across Africa, the number improves slightly to one school per 4.9 million. But compared to the rest of the world, the challenge comes into sharp focus: in the Americas the ratio is one school per 1.2million, in Asia it is one per 3.5million, in Europe, one per 1.8 million,” said Da Costa.
“If we are to address the healthcare challenges, the long-term sustainable solution is the production of more doctors.”
She said that with a determination to increase the numbers of doctors and public hospital beds available, more people could be treated, the burden of disease better addressed, and there would be improved access to quality health care.
It did not help to become embroiled in “false debates about whether or not medical aids are a crime against humanity”.
Letlape said last week that he believed it possible to provide universal health care for all with a national health system and do away with private medical aids. He estimated there were 3000 to 4000 medical professionals working for medical schemes who could be redistributed to the health system if schemes were abolished.