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The SA Health Department aims to double the number of South Africans receiving ARVs from 2.4 million to 4.8 million by 2016, says Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, SA’s Health Minister.
He was the keynote speaker at the Inclusive Healthcare Innovation Summit being held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
In 2009 there were 923 000 South Africans being treated with ARVs – and in 2014 there are 2.4 million.
Motsoaledi stressed, however, that without effective solutions for healthcare delivery and financing, waiting times for patients in the state sector could double.
“Health solutions for the continent of Africa must come from Africa,” according to the Health Minister. The two main issues to be addressed were healthcare financing and the healthcare delivery systems.
The following 10 things needed to be addressed and prioritised for effective changes to take place in the healthcare system:
- Strategic leadership
- The launching of the National Health Insurance Scheme
- Improving the quality of state health services
- Overhauling healthcare systems
- Effective human resource planning
- Effective management of both HIV/Aids, TB
- The effective management of non-communicable diseases
- The upgrading of the health system infrastructure
- Mobilising the community to become involved in healthcare
- Reviewing the drug policy
- Strengthening research and development
He stressed that the introduction of the NHI would not mean the end of private healthcare in South Africa, but that the excessive costs of private healthcare needed to be addressed. He said that he received letters daily from private patients, many of them from rich people, who were concerned about the high costs of their private healthcare.
The Inclusive HealthCare Innovation Summit ends today.
