Mandisa Ntloko-Petersen, BCX, Reinette Fourie, Medihelp, Phil Seleme, Binary Healthcare Solutions and Samu Mohutsiwa, BCX. All photo: Karolina Komendera

When we talk about healthcare in South Africa, we’re compelled to focus on the burden of disease, the structure of the healthcare system, the regulatory framework and potential future developments in healthcare policy. Healthcare in this country is provided through a highly unequal, two-tier system, with the private sector accounting for more than 50% of the country’s total expenditure on healthcare, while providing care to just 16% of the population.

This is due in part to the relatively high cost of private sector healthcare, high levels of income inequality in the country, and the limited number of individuals covered by medical aid. The public sector, which accounts for less than half of the country’s total healthcare expenditure, services the remaining 84% of the population, a large proportion of which get access to free primary care delivered through nurse-led clinics.