People moaning and bitching about the state of public health care in South Africa is nothing new... Having spent many years getting chronic medication from the Provincial Hospital in the city where I grew up, Port Elizabeth, I have experienced both public and private health care.

Needless to say, the private hospitals, although not flawless, were a thousand times better than what I saw in public hospitals. There were no beggars hanging around the premises, smoking and asking for food (don’t know why they think the sick people visiting the public hospitals have money to spare, but anyway…). No litter all over the place. No paint peeling from the walls. No toilets with feces on the floor and toilet lid. And although all the nurses that I’ve met were very nice, I’ve heard stories of some extremely un-caring and uneducated nurses, not to mention the fact that they’re hugely under-staffed. The private hospitals were clean. The food was enough. You didn’t have to bring your own bedding if you didn’t want to freeze or have dirty bedding. There are more nurses. Better facilities etc.

Having had my lung transplant in Milpark hospital which is one of the best hospitals in the country, and part of the Netcare group, I have often wondered what would’ve happened had I not had medical aid… I obviously wouldn’t have had the transplant, unless I could have managed to raise about R400 000. As they say on South Africa’s website on health care: “Health care varies from the most basic primary health care, offered free by the state, to highly specialised hi-tech health services available in the private sector for those who can afford it.” So what about those who can’t afford it? According to the same article, only 20% of the population falls in the category that had medical aid, and thus has access to private healthcare.

And what about the tax we pay? Is some of that money not supposed to go towards maintaining/upgrading public hospitals for everyone to use? So for the 20% of us with medical aid, that tax we pay is totally lost. (And since it’s the wealthier 20% of the population, that’s a considerable amount of tax!) I’ve read in newspapers and heard that apparently there is enough money to upgrade the public hospitals and make them respectable, but that the hospitals just aren’t spending the money. If that is indeed the case, then why on earth is that? And when is that ever going to be corrected? Health is a basic need for all people, and shouldn’t depend on your position of wealth.