ArticleBMC public health2020
Public engagement in the development of the National Health Insurance: a study involving patients from a central hospital in South Africa.
Article in BMC public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patients as Partners in Sickle Cell Disease Research in Africa: A Framework for Equitable Patient-Engaged Health Research.The patient · 2026Article
- Research gaps on universal health coverage in the South African context and other low and middle-income countries; putting things into perspective: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Perceptions of healthcare practitioners about NHI implementation in the public sector in Sedibeng district, Gauteng province.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- State of readiness: National health insurance implementation in hospitals, Gauteng province.Curationis · 2025Article
- A discourse and content analysis of representation in the mainstream media of the South African National Health Insurance policy from 2011 to 2019.BMC public health · 2023Review
- A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study of the Prevalence and Determinants of Health Insurance Coverage in Nigeria and South Africa: A Multi-Country Analysis of Demographic Health Surveys.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana: Lessons for South Africa and Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2020Review
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2 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe National Health Insurance (NHI) is a proposed health policy in South Africa that aims to change the structure of the current health system. Public involvement in policy making is important and it is a constitutional requirement in the legislation development process in South Africa. Patients are key stakeholders and should be engaged in NHI policy process. Before patients can be engaged, they need to be provided with sufficient information about the NHI. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory study was to examine the levels of patient awareness of the NHI, which is a requisite for meaningful engagement.
methodsThis was a cross sectional study of 244 patients from the follow-up clinics at the Department of Internal Medicine, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. The patients were interviewed using a structured interview process and a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were conducted.
resultsThe majority (79.51%) of the participants were not aware of the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Africa even though the NHI policy process commenced in 2011. Of the participants who were aware of the NHI, 86% responded that they had not been provided with an opportunity to be involved in the policy making process of the NHI. The odds of awareness were higher for male (OR: 2.08, 95% CI: 1.11-3.9, p value: 0.02) than female participants; White (OR: 2.36, 95% CI: 1.06-5.26, p value: 0.04) and Indian (OR: 2.76, 95% CI: 0.10-7.60, p value: 0.05) participants when compared to Black participants; and retired (OR: 3.13, 95% CI: 1.35-7.25, p value: 0.008) than unemployed participants.
conclusionThe levels of awareness of the NHI were low among the participants from Department of Internal Medicine, CMJAH. Without the awareness and information about the NHI, patients are not equipped to be involved in the NHI policy process in a meaningful way. Public patients are the intended beneficiaries of universal health coverage, therefore they should be prioritized in the NHI community engagement process to ensure that the NHI is community and patient centred.
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