President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed during the Presidential Health Summit earlier this year at Birchwood Hotel that although South Africa had come a long way in creating one health system for all, the disparities between public and private healthcare continued to increase. The Second Presidential Summit served as a platform for government to assess the readiness of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and the performance of the health system concerning the Presidential Health Compact.
The Presidential Health Compact is an agreement consented to by the government and key stakeholders whose work impacts the health system. The first Presidential Health Summit was in 2018. Addressing the members from various constituencies within the health sector, Ramaphosa said despite efforts to integrate health departments, the quality of healthcare was still largely influenced by where you lived. “The objective of the NHI is to provide access to quality healthcare services to all South Africans, regardless of their socio-economic status or geographical locatio