Health promotion : how government can ensure that the National Health Insurance Fund has a fighting chance

Health promotion – keeping people healthy – is critical to ensuring that South Africa (SA)’s National Health Insurance (NHI) services and funding will not be overwhelmed by having to service and pay for large numbers of people with avoidable disease. Although the 2019 NHI Bill mentions health promot...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:South African medical journal 2020-03, Vol.110 (3), p.188-191
Main Authors: Parry, C.D.H., Freeman, M., Simmonds, J.E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Diseases
Health education
Medical personnel training
National health insurance
Physical fitness
Population health
Type 2 diabetes
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Health promotion – keeping people healthy – is critical to ensuring that South Africa (SA)’s National Health Insurance (NHI) services and funding will not be overwhelmed by having to service and pay for large numbers of people with avoidable disease. Although the 2019 NHI Bill mentions health promotion, its lack of emphasis and the narrow approach proposed in the Bill make it unlikely that health promotion will have significant impact on population health or reducing healthcare need. Health promotion experts submit that there is in fact huge potential for carefully planned and researched health promotion to impact on population health. The establishment of a multisectoral National Health Commission or an independent Health Promotion and Development Foundation linked directly to the NHI Fund that includes several relevant government departments and civil society and researchers is proposed. Of the NHI Fund, 2% should be dedicated specifically to promoting health and preventing illness, which must support comprehensive, multisectoral health promotion interventions that go beyond awareness raising and health education. SA’s specific realities and needs, including poverty and its related behavioural impacts and health consequences, must be taken into account.
ISSN:0256-9574
2078-5135
DOI:10.7196/SAMJ.2020.v110i3.14499