DON’T COMMERCIALISE HEALTHCARE, HELP TLC

Without health, a person does not have the ability to enjoy what life has to offer.

Research has shown that an unhealthy society or where the healthcare is crumbling, expensive or unaffordable, the nation is unable to prosper and realise its dream for success and development. Healthcare is understood, as a matter of fact, to be referring to the system in which people are treated, how it is provided and how the individuals receive it. There is no quality or stable health without healthcare. Eswatini is a youthful population, meaning the future of the country is in the hands of the young people. We need to protect them with a sound and quality healthcare. The United Nations in Eswatini points to the fact that youth unemployment is estimated at 58.2 per cent in the country and poverty levels are high, with income distribution skewed.

The social sector is poorly resourced with a poor health system faced with an increasing disease burden as well as diminishing quality and relevance of education. What we may consider as quality health services is afforded by members of the middle and high class, which form a minority of the 1.3 million people living in the kingdom. Health services provided by private institutions are so expensive such that SwaziMed, a well resourced medical scheme, opted to establish its own hospital. That was primarily meant to cut down on costs. Therefore, the situation on the ground calls for the strengthening of the public health institutions to provide quality and reliable treatment to patients. Government should invest in the medical staff, retain doctors and procure advanced technologies to address emerging challenges. EmaSwati want Mbabane Government Hospital to be a fully fledged referral institution of high quality. They want systems strengthened at Mankayane Government Hospital, Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital, Hlatikulu Government Hospital, RFM Hospital, Mkhuzweni Health Centre, Nhlangano Health Centre, among others.

speedily addressed

Clinics must not be located far from the people. They should be easily accessible. The acute shortage of drugs should be speedily addressed and people responsible for theft of drugs and funds should be sentenced without trial. They have robbed Heaven. Medical centres like The Luke Commission (TLC) should be assisted by the government. TLC is a not-for-profit hospital that delivers mobile health services to over 200 000 patients on an annual basis. It serves as a centre of excellence for digital solutions and compassionate medicine. I have learnt that it has a team of 700 local staff. This is incredible feat. What more would you want from them? They are offering health services to emaSwati free of charge. EmaSwati, through their government, should technically and financially support TLC.

It would be immoral and irresponsible of us to collapse a system that is working for us. It is the responsibility of the government to provide healthcare. Therefore, if an institution like TLC reduces the burden for government to treat 200 000 people on an annual basis, logic would always dictate that this hospital needs financial assistance. I agree with His Majesty the King that TLC should be assisted. Anybody who blocks this assistance through evil machinations should be disowned by the society and his or her ancestors. God must enlighten the individual or individuals who do not see sense in providing subvention to TLC. Officially opening the First Session of the 12th Parliament, His Majesty the King said the kingdom’s national goal is for every liSwati to have access to quality healthcare ‘as and when they need it’. His Majesty said emaSwati needed without financial or service difficulty. “This is line with the people’s call at Sibaya to improve service delivery,” the King said.   

The head of State mentioned that the country needed people who are healthy, productive and have high life expectancies. While celebrating declining HIV/AIDS infections and deaths, the King urged emaSwati to reduce new infections so that the country could remain on course for yet another milestone – to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Ingwenyama said the country’s ultimate goal was to strengthen its health sector and provide specialised medical care locally. He then urged government to expedite the commencement of the process of mobilising resources for the construction of the referral hospital as promised by the friends of the kingdom. He issued a directive from the Throne: “This should be done in the next financial year.” Underline this super directive from Ingwenyama: “No liSwati should die from lack of proper health services.”

profits

Writing for Santa Clara University, Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez made a moving presentation on a ‘healthy bottom line – profits or people?’ They began with a sad story of a private hospital which turned away a woman in labour because its computer showed that she did not have insurance. Hours later, her baby was born dead in a county hospital. In San Bernardino, they said a hospital surgeon sent a patient who had been stabbed in the heart to a county medical centre after examining him and declaring his condition stable. Claire and Manuel mentioned that the patient arrived at the county medical centre moribund, suffered a cardiac arrest and died. They were concerned that these two hospitals shifted the patients to county facilities not for medical reasons, but for economic ones the receiving hospitals feared they would not be paid for treating the patient. In fact, these patients simply were not good business. This is really touching. I pray that Eswatini does not become a country that allows unhealthy competition and greed in the health services. As a matter of principle, venturing into the health sector to make a profit is too immoral. You want sick people to make a good business for you. Gosh!

Claire and Manuel continued to elaborate that a concern for ‘good business’ had moved to the heart of healthcare, a sector once relatively insulated from the pursuit of profit that drives the rest of the USA economy. Read this: “Throughout our history, medical institutions have largely been ‘charitable’, non-profit establishments existing primarily to serve the community.” That is The Luke Commission of today and Eswatini is lucky to have them. There is a concern in the US that the number of for-profit healthcare facilities, ranging from national hospital chains affiliated with major academic institutions to local dialysis centres have grown at a rate exceeding even that of the computer industry. The ethical implications of the growing commercialisation of healthcare have become a matter of heated controversy. Those favouring the trend toward healthcare for profit claim that an increased role for entrepreneurs and competition in the delivery of healthcare will result in a more efficient and effective healthcare system.

For others, the pursuit of profit is antithetical to the values central to medicine. It has been learnt that opposing the commercialisation of healthcare are those who base their arguments on considerations of justice. They argue that a good society like Eswatini with a manageable population has a moral obligation to meet the basic needs of all of its citizens and rightly articulated by His Majesty King Mswati III. Pacific Prime claims that despite significant international aid, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini fails to adequately fund the health sector. It says primary healthcare is relatively free in Eswatini but its poor quality doesn’t meet the needs of the people.

injustice

It is estimated that 41.7 per cent of citizens opt to pay for private healthcare. I am not quite sure about the authenticity of this data. I would have done injustice if I conclude my article without mentioning Sustainable Development Goal Number Three which emphasises on good health and well-being. Some of the UN’s targets on Eswatini healthcare are as follows -
* By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 live births.

* By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1 000 live births and under five mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1 000 live births.
* By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
* By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.
* Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol.
* By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.
* By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.

All these programmes, including the services provided by TLC need our utmost and honest support.

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