The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has warned that if foreign nationals are continuously denied access to healthcare in South Africa, illnesses such as TB and HIV will remain a major concern.
The remarks comes amid reports suggesting that certain healthcare facilities in the country deny treatment to individuals on the basis of nationality or documentation status.
The commission says this is not only unethical and unlawful but also inconsistent with the country’s obligations under both domestic and international human rights law.
SAHRC Commissioner Sandra Makoasha has identified systematic failures as the biggest contributor to this dilemma.
“Should we not address and provide medical healthcare to everyone, issues such as HIV will not be addressed and TB which are the most problematic issues in South Africa, so we will see an increase in that. And the issue is then we really need all governments, specifically in the SADC region to have a conversation about access to healthcare in South Africa and how do we then navigate and answer that. So, that we don’t have vulnerable members of the community battling it out for limited resources at hospitals.”
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