FROM THE EDITOR

PHYSICAL health and financial health tend to go hand in hand. People in low-income groups are generally more unhealthy than those in middle- and high-income groups for a number of reasons. They have a less varied diet, lower in healthy vegetables and higher in carbohydrates and unhealthy fats, putting them at higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions. Their environment may be unhealthy – for instance, they may be forced to share unhygienic ablution facilities. They may not have much leisure time, which can have an effect on mental health. And they simply cannot afford the health care that people in the upper income brackets can.

The problem is that high-quality health care is expensive, and South Africa is particularly bad at providing a decent level of health care for its citizens (see article on pages 4 & 5).

While the government moves slowly with its National Health Insurance programme, which at the moment appears unaffordable, South Africans have little alternative but to fork out for medical scheme cover, which, it seems to me, generally covers you for less and less as the years go on, while charging you more and more.

It is still the best health cover available, because it is regulated by the Medical Schemes Act, which requires a certain minimum level of cover, and this includes hospitalisation for emergencies and for a relatively comprehensive list of life-threatening conditions.

Martin Hesse

You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it. –

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS American playwright and screenwriter