MHM Magazine

18 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | Issue 1 | 2022 MHM The right to health care is a basic human right guaranteed by Section 27 of the South African Constitution. According to the Constitution, the State must ‘respect, protect, promote’ and fulfil this right. South Africa remains a vastly unequal society and public health care bears a heavy burden. PHC services are plagued by medication stock-outs; are largely under-resourced; lack suitable infrastructure and up-to-date technology. Lengthy waiting times, over-crowding, and under- staffing, adversely affect the ability to deliver adequate health care to those most in need. There is a serious gap between ‘standard suggested treatment guidelines’ and what is actually happening in treatment and many district facilities don’t meet basic requirements. In 2018, the SAHRC’s National Investigative Hearing on the Status of Mental Health Care in South Africa, reported that South Africa’s shortage of skills, training and resources in the health sector negatively impacted on the rights of additionally vulnerable groups Contributions by Prof Lesley Roberton, Prof Yusuf Moosa, Prof Rita Thom, Dr Sumaiyah Docrat DOES MENTAL HEALTH MATTER, SOUTH AFRICA?