https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Statements RSS ← Back
Africa|Health|Pipe|PROJECT|System|Training|Solutions|Pipe
Africa|Health|Pipe|PROJECT|System|Training|Solutions|Pipe
africa|health|pipe-company|project|system|training|solutions|pipe
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Critical shortage of doctors in SA – less than 1 doctor for every 1 000 patients


Close

Embed Video

Critical shortage of doctors in SA – less than 1 doctor for every 1 000 patients

Health doctor
Photo by Bloomberg

9th May 2022

ARTICLE ENQUIRY      SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

In an answer to a parliamentary question from the DA, the Minister for Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, revealed that the country’s doctor to patient ratio is 1:3 198 – 0.31 doctors per 1 000 patients. And the number of doctors is on the decrease. In 2019, we had 0.79 doctors per 1 000 patients – already poor when compared to the United Kingdom (3.03), India (0.93), Brazil (2.32), and Mexico (2.44).

This shocking state of affairs persists despite the more than 21 000 specialist medical personnel posts which are vacant across all nine provinces, and which the national Department of Health have yet to fill.

Advertisement

The critical shortage was created by the incompetence and corruption of the ANC government who seems unwilling to address these serious concerns. In fact, just last week the Gauteng Health Department failed to pay April salaries to 91 doctors and nurses at the Helen Joseph Hospital. And the interns at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital were also the victims of late payment.

How does the ANC government envision to manage the National Health Insurance (NHI) project when they are unable to make the current universal health care system in South Africa work? Before the ANC government can even begin to think about the NHI, they must increase the numbers of qualified medical personnel working in South Africa’s current public health care sector.

Advertisement

R8.8 billion has already been allocated towards the NHI. Why is this money not used to alleviate the critical shortage of medical personnel? The DA calls for these funds to be redirected towards the training and employment of doctors and nurses, and the development of nursing colleges.

The DA will submit follow-up parliamentary questions regarding:

The number of general practitioners and specialist medical personnel there are nationally and in each province, and the ratio per population.

The average waiting time at hospitals and clinics nationally and per province.

South Africa’s current health care problem cannot be alleviated by pipe dreams. These serious concerns must be addressed head on with practical and pragmatic solutions.

 

Issued by DA Shadow Minister of Health, Michele Clarke MP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE ARTICLE ENQUIRY

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

 

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options

Email Registration Success

Thank you, you have successfully subscribed to one or more of Creamer Media’s email newsletters. You should start receiving the email newsletters in due course.

Our email newsletters may land in your junk or spam folder. To prevent this, kindly add newsletters@creamermedia.co.za to your address book or safe sender list. If you experience any issues with the receipt of our email newsletters, please email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za