‘Act now to create the kind of NHI you want!’ – SAMA

Abstract

If ever there was a critical time in which doctors needed to bury their present and past differences and speak as a collective it is in the remaining few weeks before the consultation deadline on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Green Paper.
The NHI, aimed at creating equity and accessibility, will – for better or for worse ̶ forever change the face of South African health care. Dr Norman Mabasa, Chairman of the South African Medical Association (SAMA), said positively influencing how that change comes about will require urgent, unprecedented doctor consensus and input before 12 October. While agreeing with key stakeholders, such as the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA), that the 3-month consultation time-frame was too short, Mabasa (unlike some other key stakeholder representatives), was undaunted by the lack of detail in several vital areas of the long-awaited Green Paper. ‘I see that as a good thing. It means we can firm up the areas where we want detail. It shows that the intention is not dictatorial … the moment things are very detailed, you know you’re not being consulted.