NHI Soon to be Released for Public Inspection

February 17 - The proposed revolution to South Africa's current healthcare system, in the form of a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, is gaining momentum.

This week, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced that the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) had completed its work on the policy document - a process which has taken nearly a year - and is now ready to pass it on to Cabinet.

"We are in the process of preparing for the next Cabinet meeting," said the minister. "If it's approved there, it will go for public participation, a process that will take three months."

After public inspection, the NHI will return to Cabinet and then to Parliament where it will be passed into an act.

The paper deals largely with primary health care, the economic benefits of a NHI scheme and the costs involved in implementing it.

Motsoaledi also said that while work was being done on the policy document, his department had also been preparing for the adoption of the scheme.

He promised that details would be released "in due course."

"Government was hard at work to meet its promise to deliver a long and healthy life for all South Africans," said the minister.

He spoke of the challenges that his department had faced this past year in trying to meet the delivery date.

Motsoaledi also noted that in order to combat health problems, the government would also need to address issues such as sanitation, poverty and water supplies.