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Background: Implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) commenced recently. With the promise of addressing drastic inequalities in the health sector, NHI has the potential to positively transform the health system . In particular, NHI could have a significant positive impact on females, who are disadvantaged under the current system, with higher rates of poor health and lower rates of medical scheme membership compared with males. Despite NHI's transformative potential, however, the public discourse on NHI as portrayed in the media suggests that it is an unpopular policy. The evidence presented in this paper is to the contrary., Objectives: To assess the general public's opinion on NHI and to explore gender differences in perceptions., Methods: This paper reports on findings from a 2010 cross-sectional nationally representative survey of the South African population that assessed social attitudes, including perceptions on NHI. Sex-disaggregated data were analysed in SPSS version 20., Results and Conclusions: There is broad public acceptance of NHI, indicating that an overwhelming majority of South Africans would prefer an NHI system to the current two-tiered system. Support for NHI has increased since similar studies in 2005 and 2008, with the simultaneous growth of public discourse on the policy. More females than males support NHI, reflecting the potential of the NHI system to have a positive impact on gender equality and the health of women and girls.

Background: Since 1994, considerable progress has been made in transforming the South African health care system, implementing programmes that improve the health of the population, and improving access to health care services. However, amid escalating health care costs disparities continue to exist between the public and private health sectors. The implementation of a national or social health insurance remains elusive despite three government-appointed committees on the matter., Method and Objective: This paper reports on the findings of a national probability household sample of the South African population, drawn as part of the 2005 HIV/AIDS national survey, to gauge public opinion on universal health care coverage. The perceptions of South Africans were assessed on selected health care affordability and financing issues., Results: The majority support efforts to contain medicine costs and one-third are of the opinion that the country can provide everyone with all the needed health care and medical services. A large percentage of participants thought it more important to provide improved health care coverage even if it meant raising taxes, while a small percentage said it is better to hold down taxes despite lack of access to health care for some South Africans. Almost a quarter of participants were unable to comment on questions posed to them, indicating the need for improved public education and communication., Conclusion: The study provides important insights into public opinion on key policy issues. However, greater public awareness is needed to ensure an informed debate, while the design of a universal national health insurance scheme must take into account both the current context and public opinion.

The aim of this study was to investigate the utilization of delivery services in the context of PMTCT in a rural community in South Africa. Based on a cross-sectional survey, the sample included 870 pregnant women who had delivered before recruited from five PMTCT clinics and surrounding communities. Results indicated that 55.9% had delivered their last child in a health care facility and 44.1% at home (mostly without assistance from a traditional birth attendant). The odds of access to the health facility were (1) women who stayed close to the hospital (OR = 2.87), (2) those who had higher formal education (OR = 1.55), (3) higher traveling costs (affordability) to get to nearest clinic (OR = 1.77), and (4) those who were single (OR = 1.58). Childbirth experiences of the mother or mother-in-law greatly influenced the delivery choices in terms of home delivery. The majority of the pregnant women were aware of mother-to-child HIV transmission but only 9% of the pregnant women had ever been tested for HIV. HIV knowledge, HIV testing behaviour and attitudes were found to be not associated with the delivery option.