Presidential Health Summit to explore health issues in South Africa

The two-day Presidential Health Summit will be convened on Friday and Saturday in Boksburg, Gauteng.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the government delegation to the two-day Presidential Health Summit that will be convened on Friday and Saturday in Boksburg, Gauteng. 

The President is scheduled to address the summit plenary at 11:00 on Friday. 

The Presidential Health Summit is expected to bring together key stakeholders from various constituencies in the health sector to deliberate and propose solutions to address the challenges facing the South African health system. 

The delegates will work towards strengthening the health system to ensure that it provides access to quality health services for all in line with the principles of universal health coverage through an inclusive process.

South Africa has a two-tiered health system that consists of the public and private sectors. The private sector has grown from being a complementary service provider in the 1960s to becoming a significant source of funding and delivery of healthcare from the year 2000. 

While there have been major achievements in several areas, some areas remain unattended to, leading to deep challenges in the system in both the private and public sectors. 

The Presidential Health Summit follows a consultative meeting held earlier this year on the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, with a particular focus on the recently gazetted National Health Insurance Bill and the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill. At this meeting, the President reiterated the commitment of the South African government to strengthening the health system, including through the progressive implementation of NHI. 

The upcoming summit will be used as a platform to further explore issues and proposed solutions raised at the consultative meeting. 

(With inputs from South African Government press release)