South Africa's model of healthcare delivery must now shift from being hospi-centric and become more preventative if the country is to win the fight against the burden of diseases it is faced with. This was said by health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi when addressing the first Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Diseases in Moscow this morning. The conference is attended by health ministers across the world and is attended among others by United Nations chief Ban Kin-Moon and World Health organisations (WHO) head Margaret Chan.
Since his appointment as health minister, Motsoaledi has always expressed concerns around the hospi-centric model of health delivery in South Africa, describing it as too expensive and not sustainable. Speaking from Moscow this morning the health minister said "Waiting for people to first get ill and then receive them in hospitals for treatment is not a correct model of health delivery".
Motsoaledi told the gathering that South Africa is now shifting focus to primary healthcare (PHC) and the country has embarked on an extensive programme to re-engineer PHC services. "Our PHC model places focus on prevention of diseases and health promotion," said Motsoaledi.
South Africa is one of the countries in the world with a high burden of non-communicable diseases such as cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension, cancers and diabetes (with type two diabetes becoming more prominent among teenagers. "A lot of these diseases are caused by poor diet, tobacco, alcohol abuse and lack of exercise," Motsoaledi said.
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Source: Department of Health
