The cost of not covering payment of treatment for Depressive Disorders

Hermann Reuter

doi:10.4102/safp.v60i2.4871

Abstract

No abstract available.

Highlights

As a medical practitioner in the public sector who treats people with depressive disorders almost on a daily basis it came to a shock to me that in the private sector it was not the choice of medication that was not covered but the diagnosis of depressive disorders (F32 and F33) per se was not regarded as a medical condition requiring pharmacological treatment
I used Citalopram and various evidence based nonpharmacological treatments
The WHO World Health Survey studied In South Africa, the lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates for major depressive disorder are 9.7% and 4.9% respectively, with less than a quarter of South Africans with major depressive disorder able to access services and receive treatment.[6]

Summary

Introduction

As a medical practitioner in the public sector who treats people with depressive disorders almost on a daily basis it came to a shock to me that in the private sector it was not the choice of medication that was not covered but the diagnosis of depressive disorders (F32 and F33) per se was not regarded as a medical condition requiring pharmacological treatment.

Results

Conclusion