The [b]Health Department[/b] will get R145.7bn in the 2014/15 Budget, of which, reports [s]IoL[/s], R52.3bn is for district health services, R26.7bn for provincial services and R24.3bn for central health services. About R7.7bn is earmarked for spending on health infrastructure. Tabling his Budget in the National Assembly last week, [b]Finance minister Pravin Gordhan[/b] said spending on health care had produced visible results. ‘But the improvements to this country’s health system over the past five years are best seen in our rising life expectancy, the reduction in infant, child and maternal mortality, and the changed lives of 2.5m people who now have access to antiretrovirals.’
Gordhan said R41bn had been spent on HIV and Aids programmes over the past five years, and R43.5bn was budgeted for the next three. ‘We have spent R38bn on 1,879 hospitals and other health facility projects, and R26bn is allocated over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period ahead.’ A [s]Health24[/s] report said that a once off allocation of R30m had also been made for another [b]SA Demographic Health Survey[/b], which collected population-based health data. The survey is normally carried out every five years, but has not been done since 2003/04.
According to the 2014 Estimates of National Expenditure the spending focus over the medium term is on increasing life expectancy and reducing the burden of disease. But [b]Daygan Eager[/b] of the [b]Rural Health Advocacy Project at the University of the Witwatersrand[/b] was disappointed with the Budget speech saying that ‘Gordhan's commitment to lowering the budget deficit leaves little space for improvements in healthcare service delivery.’
[link url=http://www.iol.co.za/business/budget/health-spend-to-lengthen-lives-1.1653349#.Uw8FMeOSzE0]Full IoL report[/link]
[link url=http://www.health24.com/News/Public-Health/R1457-billion-budgeted-to-save-SAs-healthcare-industry-20140227]Full Health24 report[/link]
[link url=http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2014]SA National Treasury: 2014 Budget documents[/link]