Ethics Alive Symposium 2026

Building a policy consensus on universal health coverage in South Africa.

The Wits School of Governance (WSG) and the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics invite you to broader policy conversation on the future direction of universal health coverage reform in South Africa. South Africa’s health system faces deep structural challenges. Persistent governance failures, uneven access to services, and stalled reform processes have undermined progress towards universal health coverage. At the same time, the National Health Insurance framework which has been the dominant policy proposal, has little chance of implementation while critical reforms across the health system remain delayed. Adjunct Professor Alex van den Heever (WSG) will present an overview of the structural weaknesses in South Africa’s health system and the reforms required to address them and in this facilitated policy discussion, Mark Heywood will guide a structured conversation with participants on the policy issues raised in the presentation. 

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