The state should assert decisive control of all health care facilities, including private health care facilities, needed to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic –
Statement by the Dr Blade Nzimande, SACP General Secretary following a meeting of the National Office Bearers of the Party in Ekurhuleni on Monday, 23 March 2020.
Last week Sunday, 15 March 2020, the SACP called upon the private health care sector to not place profit before human life by demanding payments. The private health care sector should participate in the national effort on humanitarian grounds and accordingly form part of Covid-19 tracking efforts, make available facilities, test suspected cases and treat those affected, appealed the Party.
It is however now very clear that the private health care sector is aloof from health care as a constitutional right of every person, rather than a commodity destined for profit sale. It is extremely cruel and immoral to place profits above human lives given the global public health emergency and state of national disaster caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under a successfully introduced National Health Insurance (NHI), health care will be available to all regardless of their ability to pay. The state of national disaster caused by the global public health emergency and spread of Covid-19 calls for implementation of the key NHI principles right now!
In order to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and protect the majority of our people, the SACP is therefore calling upon government to assert decisive public control of private hospitals and other private health care facilities as required by the circumstances.
The private hospital sector has over 40 000 beds, a number of which are critical and intensive care unit beds. These facilities, in this time of war against the deadly disease, cannot be reserved for the paying patients, but should be available to all people who are affected and need treatment for Covid-19. Private health care providers must provide Covid-19 health care without demanding payment.
All health care facilities and capacity in the republic is essential now and going forward in the face of the global public health emergency of Covid-19 and as a result of the declaration of the national state of disaster.
South Africa is going to face a situation of limited public health care capacity if the Covid-19 cases continue to rise. We should not wait until that happens. All facilities and actions needed to contain and stop the spread of the pandemic should respectively be publicly available and implemented right now, rather than, belatedly, when the situation is out of control.
While government is more likely to establish new sites of health care in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and state of national disaster, it is already critical that the private health care sector becomes part of the national effort to win the war.
The SACP fully supports the measures taken by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Human life must be placed before profits.
Issued by the SACP, 23 March 2020
