Is Universal Health Coverage an Answer to the Health Injustices in Africa?

More than a decade ago, South Africa planned to introduce a universal health coverage (UHC) through a national health insurance (NHI). The purpose of introducing UHC was to address healthcare injustices and improve the health of the nation.To date, South Africa is yet to introduce UHC.

Using an ethical lens, this session will explore examples of prevailing health injustices within the South African health care system as well as factors that perpetuate these health injustices. These factors will include ethnicity, class, type of health sector, employment status, access to health insurance and other factors. While UHC is lauded as an answer to address health injustices, the session will elucidate on how these factors has hindered implementation of UHC in South Africa. Furthermore, ethical dilemmas that may result from UHC itself, will be explored.