Abstract
A group of civil servants, medical researchers, academics and private sector representatives met in the Magaliesberg to consider this question in August. Their aim was to set the agenda for a study on priorities for health spending in the country, which the Gates Foundation has agreed to fund to the tune of $1.2 million. The goal of the project is to generate data that could provide the evidence for wiser policies specific to the South African context. The project-called PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost-Effective Lessons for Systems Strengthening)-will be part of a broader network of institutions in other developing countries, and is being hosted by the SA Medical Research Council / University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Unit.
Highlights
After a decade of the South African public health sector being mismanaged by former minister Manto Tshabalala Msimang, our new government has committed itself to revitalising our health system
The past four years have seen an average real growth in state spending on health of 9% per annum. This boon has not yet translated into better health indicators: to cite but two examples, life expectancy at birth for South Africans has declined from 63 years in 1990 to 47 today; and infant mortality almost doubled between 1997 and 2005
Lessons can be learned from other countries, but in determining priorities for health spending, South Africans need to keep local constraints in mind
Summary
Setting priorities for health spending in South Africa After a decade of the South African public health sector being mismanaged by former minister Manto Tshabalala Msimang, our new government has committed itself to revitalising our health system.
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