Cape Town - There has been significant improvement in South Africa’s health indices in the democratic era, but the challenge of improving the health status of the population as a whole remains, Professor Yosuf Veriava, chair of the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), said on Tuesday.
In his chairperson's report released at the announcement of the CMS' annual results, Veriava pointed out that the South African healthcare delivery system had two functionally separate and distinct components – the public sector component, which served 83% of the population and the private sector component, which was better-resourced, but only served 17% of the population.
"The mismatch of resources in the public and private health sectors and inefficiencies in the use of available resources have, to some extent, contributed to the poor health status of South Africans," said Veriava.
Veriava said both the public and private health care systems were predominantly involved in the provision of curative services, but cautioned that the provision of curative services alone cannot improve the health of a population.
“Although curative services are important, preventive interventions and primary healthcare require significantly more attention,” he said.
According to Daniel Lehutjo, acting chief executive and registrar of the CMS, the minister of health has tasked the council with establishing a central beneficiary registry containing the records of all funded patients in South Africa.
This would further enhance the efforts of the Department of Health in resource planning for an inclusive healthcare system for South Africa.
The aim is to have the beneficiary registry developed by the end of the 2015/2016 financial year.
The 83 medical schemes currently registered with the CMS had a combined total of 8.8 million members in December 2014, comprising 3 921 232 main members and 4 893 226 dependents.
The council said it supported the national health department in the development of an alternative mechanism for the determination of private healthcare prices.
The ongoing market inquiry by the Competition Commission will also potentially provide insight into some of the structural challenges faced by the industry.