title: Inequalities in South African health care. Part I. The problem--manifestations and origins.
abstract: This exposition analyses and contextualizes the complex problem of structural inequality in South African health care. Socio-economic conditions, racial divisions and geographical location are isolated as the main determinants of inequality in the provision, allocation and distribution of health care; the prevailing inequalities are attributed to a wide range of underlying causes, including the absence of a central, binding health policy, the prominent role of apartheid and white domination, the free market and the medical profession, as well as the unique sociocultural set-up of the country. The urgent need for deliberate strategies to equalize the prevailing disparities and discrepancies is posed.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Systems Research, University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Van Rensburg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fourie
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D005006:Ethnicity; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa