Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

KwaZulu-Natal has extensive private and public healthcare facilities.

The provincial department of health in KwaZulu-Natal will spend R20.6-billion in 2010/11. The province has 75 public hospitals and there is a network of provincial, community and mobile clinics. It was announced in 2009 that a new King Edward VIII hospital is to be built.

The greatest health challenge facing KwaZulu-Natal is tuberculosis (TB) and the high co-infection rate of TB and HIV and Aids. The province’s health authorities are focused on an integrated approach to fighting TB and HIV and Aids which includes the provision of Nevirapine and AZT to newborn babies and the provision of proper nutrition. A breakthrough in the fight against HIV and Aids came in 2009 with the announcement by Isilo (the king of the Zulus) that male circumcision was to be reintroduced.

Private partnerships and the NHI KwaZulu-Natal has been a leader in the implementation of public-private partnerships in healthcare. In the R630 million Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital project, the Impilo Consortium is responsible for building and equipment management and information and technology systems.

The public sector in South Africa treats about 40 million people (85% of the population) and spends about R114 billion. According to the Board of Health Care Funders (BHF), the private sector spends about R64-billion on the other 15%.

National government is in the process of leading a dialogue on the implementation of a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. The BHF, the association representing most of the country’s medical schemes, believes that the NHI could be a positive turning point for the healthcare sector, but adds the significant rider, ‘providing it is carefully implemented’. Some analysts believe that healthcare providers will in fact be boosted by the NHI because the number of patients is likely to increase.

Of significance to suppliers was a decision in August 2009 by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health to centralize buying operations for about 20 of its hospitals. It had been found that serious overspending had been happening. Bulk-buying by the department will also allow for discounted prices.














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