
Primary Health Care
The South African Constitution guarantees each citizen’s right to basic health care services. In an effort to better realize this right, the National Department of Health (NDoH) has recently embarked on efforts to reengineer the primary health care (PHC) system in the country. In addition to rolling out the National Health Insurance program to strengthen financial protection, NDoH is expanding access to three streams of PHC services: i) district-based clinical specialist services, focused particularly on maternal and child health; ii) community-based outreach services, with referrals to clinics when appropriate; and iii) school-based preventive and curative services for school-going children. HE2RO and partners from Boston University are involved in efforts to strengthen the evidence-base for the reengineering, with ongoing evaluations of various PHC interventions in regions throughout the country.