Health Care System

Basic health care is provided at a reasonable price. All treatment, meds, and imaging are free for:

1. Chronic Conditions
2. Anyone under 6 years
3. Males over 65 years and Females over 60 years
4. Disability Pension
5. ARV Treatment
6. TB Treatment

And if you don’t fit the above category, 25 rands (~ $4) per OPD visit covers the entire service charge. Yet many fall through the cracks, predominantly in rural areas because:

1. Limited number of hospitals and clinics in rural areas.
2. Limited resources in rural hospitals like lack of physicians or CT and MRI scanners. Few physicians, particularly white South Africans, are willing to work in rural areas. Thus most rural physicians are foreign trained or Indian.
3. Poverty. 25 rand is still expensive. Most families (upwards of 8-10 people) have only 1-2 providers (which usually don’t include the father) that make 500 rand (~$80) per month per provider.
4. Transportation is difficult and inconvenient. Most rural people travel by minibus (taxis that fill up with 10 or so people) or hitch hike. Furthermore, the clinics can be hundreds of miles away.
5. Traditional medicine such as bloodletting is still common
6. Lack of education about TB and HIV/AIDS

Recently social workers and nurses have gone to homes to educate and follow up on patients. TB and HIV/AIDS patients are closely tracked. All HIV/AIDS patients are given a national barcode and can be treated at any clinic. One year ago, the government implemented the free ARV treatment across the country. Thus South Africa continues to improve its current healthcare, being aware of its problems.