Overcrowded hospitals, overworked hospital staff and a perennial shortage of medicines are some of the challenges that riddle the public health system.
And yet health is not the most pressing campaign issue during this election season; it seem to have been buried beneath an avalanche of rhetoric on jobs and Nkandla. But for the majority of South Africans who rely on public health services, the policies that govern it are often the difference between life and death.
While there may not be much attention on the health policies of political parties right now, how parties approach health in South Africa remains crucial to driving South Africa forward.
Below is some of the most critical need-to-know information on various parties’ health manifestos. DM
SOUTH AFRICA VOTES 2014 takes a look at how some of the major parties in this election compare on their health policies.