To speed up the country's delivery of qualified doctors, Western Cape Health MEC Theuns Botha says private medical schools are necessary.

South Africa is ready for its own private medical school where doctors can be trained without the help of the state, said Western Cape Health MEC Theuns Botha. (AFP)

South Africa is ready for its own private medical school where doctors can be trained without the help of the state, said Western Cape Health MEC Theuns Botha at the 18th Rural Health Conference in Worcester on Tuesday. I intend addressing the issue on national level. Why can the country have privately run courses for almost all other professional fields, but not for medicine? Botha asked.

Private medical schools are currently prohibited by the National Health Act only public universities are allowed to train doctors. Medical students can therefore only do their practicals at public hospitals under the supervision of doctors employed at state hospitals and clinics.

According to the national health department South Africas eight medical schools have been producing an average of 1200 doctors per year for the past decade. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has told the Mail & Guardian previously that he plans to at least triple this number to 3600 doctors per year for the implementation of governments National health Insurance Scheme.

According to the governments White Paper on human resources, South African medical schools will have to double their output of general practitioners over the next 15 years just to maintain the current ratios to population.

The ministry has funded a new medical school at the University of Limpopo and is planning to build more training hospitals. Motsoaledi plans to expand several health institutions, including Sowetos Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and Tygerberg Hospital in Bellville.

But Botha says a private medical school is also needed to speed up the countrys delivery of doctors.

Understaffed SA hospitals It therefore requires a healthy debate to determine way forward. We do not have enough medical doctors in SouthAfrica and the national government reverts to the Cuban programme to address it. Our solution is permission for a private academic platform, incentives to retain professional skill inSouthAfricaand support and expansion of the existing medical schools, Botha said.

Cuba, with a population of 11-million, compared with South Africas 52-million, produces more than eight times the number of doctors that South Africa does: about 11000 annually from its 25 medical schools.

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South Africa ready for private medical school