1. Public Perspective of NHI
Sarah Davids Oct 2016
There is no single story

2. Overview
Appealing part is promise of “Free Health Care to all” so generalised support
Tension- Socialist system that must be funded by a capitalist system (taxpayers)
Rights based approach to health implies the principle of participatory decision-making
“How do I contribute even when I am unemployed?”
Some the word ‘insurance’ meant at some point you make a claim but just did not understand when and how.

3. Who is the Public Recipients or users say:
” We like that the CHW come to our homes”
“The clinics and hospitals have become progressively worse over the years. In fact all government departments are on the decline.”
“We heard about it on TV and there was a pamphlet about what it is.”

4. Who is the Public
Public engaged at an intellectual level, “ Fiscal & policy implications” Improve Quality in the public sector and reduced costs in the Private sector. Debates around financing models and sustainability
Public who still have medical aid and are waiting for the NHI to kick in. How will NHI impact on medical aid schemes and will the level of care and infrastructure be at the level of private hospitals?

5. Who is the Public
Public who belong to the professional bodies- they may or may not understand that all policy directives are written in support of NHI or
they may subscribe to viewpoints for example HASA – costs- legal and constitutional issues and review of lessons learnt

6. Who is the Public
Public (some) who live in NHI supported district the change is visible, but often confusing if this is NHI or Ideal clinic realisation and maintenance – “We see signs at clinics, security guards, disaster management plans”
Public who are traditional health care practitioners? Not consulted so no clear views
CHW- we support the NHI, but we not paid or respected in the system

7. Why NHI – Universal access to quality health services that is affordable
how this is going to happen how will they get there if referred to some private far away hospitals or public hospital for care,
access is construed to mean you go to any health centre and you get treatment does not matter how many times for the same ailment until you are referred to a better  health centre and that health centre is a private clinic.

8. Comments
We know we in an NHI site, but we do not know what that means.
We do not like the changing of the status of the hospitals and facilities as quality of care changes
We have seen changes at facilities, but not sure if this is because of NHI

9. Questions posed
Since the NHI is a pilot when will it start officially?
Can our government afford it, or will it be one of those programmes that fail?
Why do we not have an interim or mid-term NHI report? Things are going backward and I am in an NHI district?

10. How does knowing this help?
Are we really ready to engage in the dialogue of a rights based approach to health?

11. My You tube gift to you Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Ted Talk
The danger of a single story
The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.