Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla says the government's proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) "will go a long way" to prepare the country for future pandemics, reports News24.
He last week told delegates in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) that the NHI would remove the division between the public and private sector, ensuring a much quicker response to major pandemics like Covid-19.
"We have been doing a lot with very limited resources split between the private and public health sector. In terms of long-term readiness, we need the pulling of all resources … human resources, infrastructure, rather than to recruit on an impromptu basis, volunteers and health professionals.
"Once we can put all these resources together to create one national health service, pandemics like Covid-19 will be managed with a lot more certainty because instead of spending time in negotiations entering into agreements, we would have this as a standing arrangement. With the financial resources we would be able to plan emergency and laboratory services."
[link url="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/nhi-will-better-prepare-sa-for-future-pandemics-phaahla-20201105"]Full News24 report[/link]