In the debates about National Health Insurance (NHI), what is overlooked are the social and financial costs of a growing burden of preventable diseases.
For universal healthcare and NHI to succeed, SA needs effective health promotion programmes and institutions
South Africans who drink consume an average of 28.9 litres of pure alcohol per year. Yet fewer than 40% of South Africans drink any alcohol. This means that those who do drink often drink in the most harmful way. We see theof adults, indicating that this is still a significant risk factor contributing to the burden of cardiovascular diseases and cancers.
Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major cause of obesity. In 2018, South Africa introduced a tax on them called the Health Promotion Levy in an attempt to decrease obesity, but the levy was introduced at a level lower than was thought toHowever, the levy has not been increased with inflation nor ring-fenced for health promotion.
Systematically address the social determinants of non-communicable diseases across government sectors; All sectors that contribute to health and development outcomes of non-communicable diseases to be aware of their responsibilities and implement relevant policies and interventions as directed by the National Health Commission;) that recognises the importance of a “health in all policies” approach. The NHC has the potential to address health promotion, with its emphasis on a “whole-of-government” approach and close collaboration with academia and civil society.
These highlighted that because people’s lives are integrated there is a need for an integrated approach to service delivery and health promotion and a need for distributed leadership and innovation across sectors and levels of government.
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