I am a health professional and healthcare is an issue very dear to my heart. But healthcare can so easily become the victim of issues beyond its control. The recent events surrounding the withdrawal of the funding of key health initiatives around the world by the United States is an example of this. I have recently written about the danger of dependency by a country on foreign aid, but the danger of what has transpired goes much further than that. America is a democracy and its president was elected by more than 50% of those who went to the polls in what most would accept was a fair democratic process…
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Donor funding … a double edged sword
An Executive Order from the United States President halting foreign aid for an initial 90-day review period, amongst others to South Africa, has had far reaching implications around the world. South Africa has in addition been more specifically targeted with a further Executive Order indicating that all financial transfers to South Africa are halted. The major health implication for this country was funding allocated via PEPFAR and USAID for a wide spectrum of health related initiatives many of which are focused on programs supporting people living with HIV and AIDS. The sudden and largely unexpected actions of the US President have caused chaos and uncertainty. While it will be argued…
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Inspired by Youth … anything is possible!
I was privileged recently to attend a performance of the Ndlovu Youth Choir. What a stunning show it was which entranced a full-house at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town. All the the members of the choir, which was formed in 2009, come from a small village, Elandsdoorn, in the Moutse district of Limpopo South Africa. Achieving prominence after their participation in the America’s Got Talent (AGT) television show, they have performed across South Africa and in many countries around the world, most recently at New York’s famed, Carnegie Hall. The story of the choir is an inspirational and well documented one which I will not repeat, but their performance…
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The Consequences of Power and Privilege
I have not written anything on my website since September 2024. Call it writer’s block or a sense of disillusionment with the world that I see around me but I have lacked inspiration despite the many issues that have crossed my path. Conflicts abound across the globe some becoming newsworthy for a while only to be superseded by others in the relentless news cycles that occupy the news channels of the world media. Images of displaced people as a result of various conflicts or natural disasters fill our television screens. The poor remain poor across the world with even basic services to communities crumbling in many places. But amongst all…
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The Life Esidimeni tragedy … a lesson that must be learned
The Life Esidimeni tragedy happened in the early months of 2016 when a long-standing contract with the Life Healthcare Group was terminated by the Gauteng Department of Health. Thereafter despite warnings that this was unwise around 1500 vulnerable mentally retarded patients were transferred from Life Esidimeni facilities in Gauteng to Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) in what was known as the Marathon Project. Many of the NGO’s did not have the capacity or resources to manage patients of this nature and as a result at least 144 patients died of neglect and many more suffered inhuman and degrading conditions. This occurred less than a year after I had retired as Head…
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A Conversation about Conversations …
When I was young a conversation was more often than not something my mother had with her neighbour over the garden fence, that is an informal and casual exchange of news, ideas and opinions. A conversationalist was a person who excelled in conversations which was seen as a characteristic of a cultured and well-educated person. A conversation piece was something novel or strikingly intense that stimulated conversation. A subsidiary meaning of the word, conversation, as set out in my Merriam-Webster dictionary refers to an informal discussion of an issue by representatives of governments, institutions or groups. But although the words conversation and discussions could be seen by some as synonyms,…
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Age and Ageism … some further thoughts
The recent withdrawal of President Joe Biden as a candidate for the upcoming American presidential election and the various responses to that event set me thinking once again about the manner in which ageing is addressed in the world today. In a world that has become progressively more politically correct we are made aware of the need to be sensitive to discrimination in all its various manifestations. Ageism simply stated is the prejudice or discrimination against people on the grounds of their age. President Biden a man of 81 had been the presumptive Democratic Party candidate elected through the process of primaries across the various American states but in recent…
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Government of National Unity (GNU) … illusion or reality?
The May 29th 2024 election delivered a parliament for the first time in the 30 years since 1994 in which no single party had a majority. During the past 30 years the African National Congress (ANC) had a significant majority at both national and provincial level with the exception of the Western Cape province where since 2009 the opposition Democratic Alliance had a majority which was maintained in the 2024 election. Clearly after the 2024 election the ANC which was the largest party with just over 40% of the votes had to seek coalition partners. After tough negotiations a coalition was formed with the Democratic Alliance as the second largest…
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South African Public and Private Healthcare … there is good and bad in both
The recent high profile signing of the National Health Insurance Act set me thinking about the public perceptions of healthcare in South Africa. In a South African context one hears much about problems experienced in the public health sector but less about those in the private health sector. In the public health sector issues relate to the poor quality of healthcare while in the private sector the issue most frequently is the high cost of services. I have had the advantage of having worked for forty years in the South African public health sector and subsequent to my retirement being part of, or having undertaken, various investigations into public health…
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National Health Insurance NHI … the “final countdown” … or not!
In May 2023 I wrote a post titled “National Health Insurance … will logic prevail?” Now a year later, in May 2024, it appears to me that emotion and political necessity rather than logic has prevailed certainly amongst the ruling party. I do not intend to repeat an analysis of what is contained in the now NHI Act signed by President Ramaphosa but rather to consider the consequences of his doing so 15 days prior to a general election in which the political party which he heads faces for the first time possible, but probably unlikely, election defeat. The President has defended his actions with the argument that the delay…
