DR. ATIYA MOSAM says public health services in South Africa are not all bad, but South Africans have a responsibility to demand the sector improves. When I tell people that I still (voluntarily) work for the public health service, I am usually met with a dumbfounded stare. Then comes the question, "Why?". Seven years post graduation, I am no longer surprised at these reactions, nor do I blame anyone for responding this way. The common perception of the public sector is that of a failing system, a dysfunctional, poor quality healthcare delivered by truly unpleasant healthcare workers. And I won't dispute that in many instances, this perception is true.
I have seen both sides of this story. I have seen the bad: The lack of equipment and drugs, the sheer exhaustion of health workers, the nurses who shout self- righteously at teenagers, the doctors who crudely deliver bad news. I have seen it and ashamedly, at times, I have seen it in myself.
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