RELIEF FOR PATIENTS AS PHALALA BACK ON TRACK

MBABANE – Patients diagnosed with diseases that need specialised medical treatment can heave a sigh of relief as they can now receive the required care.

This is because patients receiving treatment under the Phalala Fund can now access services in South African medical facilities. The services were cut after government failed to pay a debt of about E170 million which has since been paid off.

Not only ordinary Swazis were affected by this state of affairs, but government employees under the Civil Servants Medical Referral Scheme is well.  
However, things are now back in order, as week in and week out, a number of Swazis, mainly cancer patients, travel to South Africa for treatment.

According to Phalala Fund Administrator Thabisile Dlamini, about 120 patients are currently in South African hospitals for treatment. Dlamini said the debt had been paid off.
She said it was not the first time that South African hospitals stopped Swazis from getting treatment. She explained that this was caused by the fact that many people were accessing the services, and the charges were extremely high in some cases.

“For example, there are a number of patients in South African hospitals who have been in hospital for a long while, and their costs had run up to E100 000,” she said. She said these were categorised as high-cost patients. Dlamini said when the money reached a certain amount, the South African hospitals stopped accepting patients until government made payment.
She said some of the patients were admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICU) and the cost per day ran up to E14 000.

She said for most cancer patients, the treatment lasted for about five years per person, and the majority of paients currently in South Africa for treatment were being treated for cancer.  She said the patients who receive treatment through Phalala Fund were divided into three categories, depending on the treatment they were getting. She said the money government spent on these patients varied.
Dlamini said the patients, besides the fees government paid for treatment, had to fork out money for accommodation for the patients.

She said the first category consisted mainly of cancer patients, who did not need any help, and were in South Africa for their chemotherapy treatment.
She said these were housed in lodges which cost E600 per day, and the patients were given three meals.

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