By Craig Comrie
A journey starts with the destination, and then we plan how to get there. The route we choose, using the means available, particularly in city traffic or South African health-care, determines when we can expect to arrive at our intended destination.
As South Africans, we have set our destination as a future of health-care equality, but the route mapped out for us in the National Health Insurance Act is potholed, long, and winding.
As the health minister points out, structural imbalances between private and public health care must be addressed. However, the fork in the road ahead could put us on the highway to equalising health care, to the detriment of scarce health-care resources, which may result in more rationalisation of services for those who need them most.
The presidents recent call for collaboration with the private sector could be the safety belt our health system needs, provided the conversations include private health funders and lead to meaningful legislative amendment and policy direction.
