Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insurance

The essential medicines concept is recognised as an instrument to improve medicines access and to promote cost-effective use of health resources. South Africa adopted the concept and implemented the Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List (STGs/EML) in 1996 when the National Drug...

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Main Authors: Velisha A. Perumal-Pillay, Fatima Suleman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2021-01-01
Series:South African Family Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5145
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author Velisha A. Perumal-Pillay
Fatima Suleman
author_facet Velisha A. Perumal-Pillay
Fatima Suleman
author_sort Velisha A. Perumal-Pillay
collection DOAJ
description The essential medicines concept is recognised as an instrument to improve medicines access and to promote cost-effective use of health resources. South Africa adopted the concept and implemented the Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List (STGs/EML) in 1996 when the National Drug Policy for South Africa was launched. The STGs/EML was meant to address the inequities in medicines access and use and to ensure a standard of care to all citizens, yet these inequities still exist. The implementation of the new National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme is envisaged to relieve this healthcare inequity. The STGs/EML still forms the basis of care in the public sector, but a critique of implementing this tool and lessons that can be applied from this implementation for NHI are lacking. This piece addresses these shortfalls and highlights questions surrounding the implementation of the STGs/EML.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2078-6190
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language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
publisher AOSIS
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series South African Family Practice
spelling doaj-art-43f80f9c4c16462580239c0a1f510a2c2025-08-20T04:03:13ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62042021-01-01631e1e310.4102/safp.v63i1.51454108Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insuranceVelisha A. Perumal-Pillay0Fatima Suleman1Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, DurbanDiscipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, DurbanThe essential medicines concept is recognised as an instrument to improve medicines access and to promote cost-effective use of health resources. South Africa adopted the concept and implemented the Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List (STGs/EML) in 1996 when the National Drug Policy for South Africa was launched. The STGs/EML was meant to address the inequities in medicines access and use and to ensure a standard of care to all citizens, yet these inequities still exist. The implementation of the new National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme is envisaged to relieve this healthcare inequity. The STGs/EML still forms the basis of care in the public sector, but a critique of implementing this tool and lessons that can be applied from this implementation for NHI are lacking. This piece addresses these shortfalls and highlights questions surrounding the implementation of the STGs/EML.https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5145essential medicines listshealth systems strengtheningnational health insurancesouth africastandard treatment guidelines
spellingShingle Velisha A. Perumal-Pillay
Fatima Suleman
Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insurance
South African Family Practice
essential medicines lists
health systems strengthening
national health insurance
south africa
standard treatment guidelines
title Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insurance
title_full Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insurance
title_fullStr Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insurance
title_full_unstemmed Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insurance
title_short Drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in South Africa as the country moves towards national health insurance
title_sort drawing lessons from the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines list concept in south africa as the country moves towards national health insurance
topic essential medicines lists
health systems strengthening
national health insurance
south africa
standard treatment guidelines
url https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5145
work_keys_str_mv AT velishaaperumalpillay drawinglessonsfromthestandardtreatmentguidelinesandessentialmedicineslistconceptinsouthafricaasthecountrymovestowardsnationalhealthinsurance
AT fatimasuleman drawinglessonsfromthestandardtreatmentguidelinesandessentialmedicineslistconceptinsouthafricaasthecountrymovestowardsnationalhealthinsurance