Category: Opinion

PHASA Mental Health Interest Group’s concern with patients’ rights related to the contract termination

In October 2015, the Gauteng Department of Health issued a media statement informing the public that it has terminated its contract with Life Healthcare Esidimeni Hospital. About 200 severely mentally ill patients admitted in the Life Healthcare Esidimeni facilities in Gauteng will be discharged by the end of June 2016 to NGOs or back to

Opinion: PHC re-engineering health care in South Africa is essential

Our current health care system is not appropriately addressing the death and disability in our country – we need a major shift to education and prevention.

Unanswered questions NHI

Let’s hear about your thoughts on these questions. Also please post other relevant questions that you have so that we can hear the voices of as many people as possible.

Opinion: Taken for a ride – First aid training for the Taxi Industry

Is the training of taxi drivers to provide healthcare in the form of first aid a reasonable, (cost) effective intervention?

Opinion: Cervical cancer – a vaccine preventable disease

Cervical cancer will develop in one out of every 35 South African women and it is the leading cause of cancer deaths amongst South African women. Approximately nine South African women die every day from cervical cancer. The aim of this opinion piece is to highlight the fact that the cervical screening does not seems to work in South Africa (low coverage) and therefore vaccination against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which is causing cervical cancer, should not be postponed anymore, in order to save lives.

MRC funding for Public Health Research in South Africa: Managerialism in research drifting to an unsustainable model?

The author would like to discuss with PHASA members his observation that the extent to which PH research can benefit from MRC funding seems to be compromised over the past few years.