THE BODY POLITIC
SHIRLEY DE VILLIERS: Don’t get sick in the Eastern Cape
The province’s health system is a shambles, and it doesn’t augur well for NHI
R1.8bn of R28bn. Six percent. That’s what would be left for service delivery in the Eastern Cape health department’s budget for 2023 after deductions for salaries, and provision for wage increases and cost overruns from the previous year, among other items. At least, that’s what former health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) appropriations committee in September, according to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group.
It’s something the Eastern Cape can ill afford. As the provincial health department’s annual report makes clear, the social determinants of health (poverty, unemployment, education, housing and access to piped water and sanitation) contribute to a high burden of disease in the province. The report points to the fact that 72% of the population lives in poverty and just 84% has access to piped water. Unemployment on the expanded definition is nudging an eye-watering 50%, according to Stats SA. Within this malaise, 89% of the people of t...
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