DA says that the state is responsible for provinces health services

By Sasha Forbes
09 September 2008

South Africa has a health system that works for some but not for others. DA spokesperson Fritz de Klerk says that the “quality of our private health care is among the best in the world, but most South African are excluded from it. They have to rely on the public health care system which frankly doesn’t work that well at the moment.”

A survey in 2004 evaluated the quality of health care across the world, and ranked South Africa’s private sector fourth worldwide. South Africa’s public sector was ranked fortieth.

“The DA believes that the state has a key role to play in achieving a more equitable and efficient health care system, but the challenge is to calve out an enabling environment, rather than a prescriptive role for the state.” says DA spokesperson Fritz de Klerk.

Plans for a health care system that provides a high quality of service to all the people must involve a partnership between the public and the private sectors.