Constitutional rights to quality care must be preserved

President’s Health Compact contradicts collaboration imperatives

True collaborative engagement is needed to ensure South Africa’s healthcare system is equipped to provide for the needs of all South Africans equitably, the Health Funders Association (HFA) says.

“The backlash against the Second Presidential Health Compact is rooted in a broader concern that the unilateral change to the wording of the Compact contradicts President Ramaphosa's previously endorsed spirit of collaboration,” says HFA Chairperson Craig Comrie.

“The Compact presented the opportunity for patriotic South African entities to work together with the government on initiatives around accountability, infrastructure enhancement and human resource development, among others, to strengthen the healthcare system, and the previous version which was focussed on these initiatives was wholeheartedly supported by private and public entities.”

The HFA and other private sector stakeholders have long advocated for a healthcare system that leverages the strengths of both the public and private sectors. This was the principle on which the Presidential Health Compact was initially established in 2018.

On the importance of authentic collaborative engagement, Comrie highlights that collaboration is a two-way process.

“As the HFA, we feel a responsibility to all healthcare stakeholders – first and foremost to the citizens who rely on the healthcare system ¬– to advocate for a genuine consultative process on the urgent concerns surrounding NHI legislation.”

The HFA has highlighted that the NHI Act does not adequately address the practical issues of quality, sustainability, and constitutionality, which are all vital in ensuring a robust, sustainable healthcare system and hence the unilateral changes to the Presidential Health Compact to make it an endorsement of the NHI Act were inappropriate and deviate from the original intention.

“As an organisation representing several major healthcare funders and millions of South African healthcare consumers, we have repeatedly called for deeper engagements to ensure that the voices of all stakeholders, including healthcare professionals who are the lifeblood of South Africa’s healthcare system, are heard and considered,” says Comrie.

“The HFA has made practical, feasible and constructive recommendations on an approach that can rapidly expand access to health coverage consistent with the NHI policy objectives. Any further effort at consultations must also deal with the need to preserve and advance South Africans’ constitutional rights to access quality healthcare,” he adds.

The HFA and its members’ extensive experience in health funding and the many submissions presented over the past decade highlight necessary considerations that to date do not appear to have been taken into consideration in the legislation.

“We remain optimistic that deeper engagements will follow before the die is cast for South Africa’s future health system, as this is an opportunity to harness our collective strengths,” Comrie concludes.