Inequalities in South African health care. Part I. The problem--manifestations and origins
Van Rensburg, H.C.; Fourie, A.
South African Medical Journal 84(2): 95-99
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0256-9574 PMID: 8042107 Document Number: 434605
This exposition analyses and contextualizes the complex problem of structural inequality in South African health care. Socio-economic conditions, racial divisions and geographical location are isolated as the main determinants of inequality in the provision, allocation and distribution of health care; the prevailing inequalities are attributed to a wide range of underlying causes, including the absence of a central, binding health policy, the prominent role of apartheid and white domination, the free market and the medical profession, as well as the unique sociocultural set-up of the country. The urgent need for deliberate strategies to equalize the prevailing disparities and discrepancies is posed.