A healthcare consensus initiative aims to secure agreement on universal health coverage by year-end while coordinating action to improve failing services. Backed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the independent, confidential process involves about 70 organisations and prominent individuals. The 18-month health consensus-building initiative (HCBI) brings together stakeholders divided over healthcare reform, including the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act. However, it offers…
Tag: universal health coverage
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Traditional Health Practitioners Set for NHI Role
According to Dr Joe Phaahla, Deputy Minister of Health, the government intends to include traditional health practitioners as it introduces National Health Insurance (NHI). He announced this during his speech at the African Traditional Medicine Commemorative Day in Mpumalanga. The commitment establishes a formal place for traditional medicine within South Africa’s universal health coverage schemes. It aligns the country with…
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Brics Health Cooperation Advances UHC Ambitions
Brics member states have committed to deeper healthcare collaboration after adopting the 16th Brics Health Ministers’ Declaration. The agreement builds on an earlier pledge to work collectively towards universal health coverage, or UHC. More than 70 representatives and partner organisations endorsed the declaration during a recent Brics health ministers’ meeting in Chandigarh, India. Delegates identified nine priority areas for cooperation.…
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Certificate Of Need Ruling: ConCourt Strikes Down DoH Powers
South Africa’s certificate of need ruling has landed a major setback for government plans to direct where health services can operate. The Constitutional Court has declared the “certificate of need” provisions in the National Health Act unconstitutional. The decision ends a long legal fight that has run for more than two decades. The unanimous ruling confirms a 2024 Pretoria High…
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Zimbabwe National Health Strategy Aims to Transform Healthcare
Zimbabwe has taken a significant step towards reshaping its health system, launching a high-level validation workshop for its National Health Strategy 2026-2030. Health Minister Douglas Mombeshora told stakeholders the strategy arrives at a “defining moment” for the country. He urged them to view it not as a policy document, but as an actionable roadmap. Importantly, it is aligned with Zimbabwe’s…
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NHI Funding: Court Hears Claims Of Blind NHI Approval
The National Health Insurance (NHI) programme faced renewed legal pressure yesterday. Constitutional Court justices questioned whether the public had enough information to participate meaningfully in the law-making process. At the centre of the dispute is NHI Funding Transparency. Debate continues over whether Parliament should have provided clearer cost and funding details before passing the bill. The NHI Act aims to…
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NHI Financial Architecture Shapes Medtech Investment
South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) project is being treated as a political fight. Yet, for many healthcare operators and investors, it looks like something else. It looks like a financing build that was announced before the balance sheet was finalised. The Constitutional Court is scheduled to hear major challenges to the NHI Act from 5 to 7 May 2026.…
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NHI ConCourt Challenge: What’s At Stake For The Health System
South Africa’s National Health Insurance Act is one of the most ambitious legislative reforms since democracy’s advent. Its goal, universal health coverage, is widely supported. But ambition alone does not make legislation constitutional, and the upcoming NHI ConCourt Challenge will test this. The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) will appear before the Constitutional Court from 5 to 7 May. Its…
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NHI Constitutional Court Challenge: Key Issues Unpacked
South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) project is heading into a critical legal test. President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to argue before the Constitutional Court that the NHI is a necessary step to address deep inequality in access to healthcare inherited from apartheid. The case focuses on whether Parliament followed a constitutionally sound public participation process when passing the NHI…
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NHI Design Should Take Lessons From China’s Layered Model
Public debates often simplify complex issues. The discussion surrounding South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) provides a prime example. While roleplayers often ask the public to support or oppose the plan, this binary framing misses the reform’s fundamental point. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is not the point of contention. South Africa has already settled that goal. The Constitution grounds this…