The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill represents landmark legislation aimed at transforming healthcare delivery in South Africa. Signed into law in May by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the NHI Bill holds the promise of universal healthcare coverage for all citizens. However, like any significant policy shift, it comes with its share of advantages and challenges. To...
The 3rd Africa Health Research and Innovation Funder’s Forum (AHRIFF) was held at Asara Wine Estate in Stellenbosch Cape Town from 24 – 26 August 2023. This is the third of the two previous Funders Forum meetings. The revolution of this meeting was influenced by a study conducted by Paruk. F. et al. 2014 entitled...
Calling for increased investment in health research and development Context and Landscape of Health R&D in SA We, the South African Health Technologies Advocacy Coalition (SAHTAC), a civil- society coalition which advocates for an enabling environment for health research and development, recognises that, the South African government has demonstrated its commitment to the Health Research...
Our health systems endured a heavy – often invisible – cost during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the country was focused on the battle against this pandemic, long-fought gains against other infectious diseases were being rolled back. And none more so than with tuberculosis. The Lancet notes that South Africa has one of the highest tuberculosis (TB) burdens...
On 26th October 2022, the South African Health Technologies Coalition (SAHTAC), through its Regulatory Harmonisation work, supported the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to host a webinar titled: SAHPRA unpacks global accolade upon receiving WHO Maturity Level 3. More than 337 people dialed into the webinar which was characterized by many questions and...
The National Health Research Strategy Priority Framework Workshop was held online as a Webinar on the 19th of October 2022. The main objective of the workshop was to conduct a retrospective explanatory analysis to examine the policy determination that is how the policy got to be on the agenda, how it was initiated and formulated,...
SAHTAC participated in the first joint World Health Summit co-hosted with WHO on 16 to 18 October in Berlin, Germany. The Summit brought together the most prominent names in global health from all sectors in all regions of the world. Held under the patronage of German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Senegal’s...
The Covid-19 pandemic not only exposed the weaknesses in our healthcare system but also revealed the deep-seated issues that remain prevalent with pharmaceutical companies responsible for developing lifesaving technology. The deep-seated issues pertaining to access to medical resources in third-world countries, where many countries are often left behind in the process of accessing lifesaving technology....
It is time to treat the scourge of Tuberculosis scourge with the same urgency as we did the COVID-19 pandemic. As we emerge from the devastating toll of the pandemic on people’s lives and on global economies, we must wake up to face the staggering toll of 1.5 million Tuberculosis deaths and 10 million new infections...
Across Africa, local manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies are responding to the urgent need for locally produced medical products and technologies despite the existing regulatory challenges. We can support manufacturing capacity by expediting the establishment and operationalisation of the African Medicines Agency (AMA). In November 2021, after 15 countries signed and ratified the AMA treaty, the AMA...
