Board of Healthcare Funders Conference: Working towards sustainability in SA's Healthcare sector

The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) Annual South African Conference will this year take place from the 22nd to the 25th of July at Sun City. It is expected that the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, will be opening the conference and will be talking about the need for collaboration between the public and the private sector in improving access to quality healthcare services.

This year's theme is 'Squaring the Circle' as it conveys the need for all stakeholders within the private healthcare industry to agree on parameters for the sustainability of the sector. According to Heidi Kruger, Head of Corporate Communications at BHF, "It is essential that the health care industry seriously focuses its energies on ensuring that health care in South Africa becomes and remains equitable and accessible to all. The onus is on us to make certain that we maintain a balance between affordability and quality while keeping an eye on the future of healthcare in this country."

Some of the topics that will be discussed at the conference are:

* The rising costs of PMBs
* Health Technology Assessment balancing the expectations of members with the realities of budget constraints
* The state of competition in the health care industry
* Realising effective health technology assessment for the South African healthcare environment
* Health charter requirements
* The governance of medical schemes and
* Measuring affordability, access and quality

Dr Humphrey Zokufa, Managing Director of BHF, commented, "We at BHF want to be the conduit for positive dialogue and change within the healthcare sector and we want to ensure that the resolutions reached during discussions at the conference result in concrete actions."

In conclusion Kruger stated, "This event will offer tremendous insight as to what can be anticipated over the short to medium term with regard to healthcare and will equip delegates to make informed strategic and operational decisions over the coming year."

Should anyone require any further information or be interested in attending the conference, they may contact Heidi Kruger on 0829051161, (011) 5370237 or e-mail heidik@bhfglobal.com

Click here to view the programme (PDF file - 57KB)