Features

The slow march towards implementing the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme continues and is now in Phase 2, which runs from this year until 2028. The Board of Healthcare Funders and the Western Cape provincial government are challenging how the NHI Act was passed in the Constitutional Court, arguing that there wasn’t enough public participation. The court heard argument in May and has yet to announce its judgment. Meanwhile, the health department continues to work on the national Health Patient Registration System.

But in a country with a dual healthcare system – a well-resourced private sector serving a minority of the population and an underfunded and overwhelmed public healthcare system serving the majority – the successful delivery of universal healthcare is sure to be a challenge. According to the government’s National Digital Health Strategy, digital health technologies provide opportunities to transform the way health services are provided and how people engage with those services. While telemedicine is not explicitly positioned as a key component of the NHI, this model can help deliver healthcare more efficiently and equitably, particularly in underserved and rural areas.