''Policies that address race-based disadvantage – such as universal health coverage as well as anti-hunger measures – are urgently needed to mitigate health disparities in the Covid-19 era and beyond.''
The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked substantial damage on human lives and the economy in South Africa. But the impact of the measures used to combat the pandemic, such as lockdowns, have not been even. The pandemic has likely worsened the income inequalities that characterise the country’s economy.
The survey collected information on health, income and other relevant factors during the higher levels of the lockdown. We compared these findings to data collected from the same individuals in 2017. The impact of race on health outcomes, especially in this period, corroborates prior evidence in South Africa and elsewhere. Black people are among the worst affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in South Africa. One of the avenues through which this occurs is higher exposure to hazardous jobs such as working as cleaners or in fumigation of contaminated areas.
This two-tier system is in dire need of reform if the country is to tackle health inequalities. Hopefully the country’s move to universal health coverage as envisaged in the proposed National Health Insurance Scheme will mitigate these inequalities and inequities. The final factor contributing to widening health inequalities was income inequality. As earlier indicated, Covid-19 disproportionately affected the poor through a higher likelihood of them losing their jobs, among other things.
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