The #Care4Carers Campaign
About
The South African healthcare system hangs on the edge of a cliff. A profit seeking private healthcare system combined with underinvestment in an unaccountable public healthcare system has driven unfair practices in the South African healthcare sector. For decades, this system has worked to break the backs of the mostly black women healthcare work force; thereby compromising the health and wealth of our communities and society.
This system’s unfair treatment of healthcare workers, particularly nurses and community healthcare workers, has led to chronic understaffing, salaries stagnating, jobs stripped of security, predictability, and benefits such as health care, a minimum number of guaranteed working hours, shortages of PPEs, medication and equipment; leaving a healthcare work force on its knees from overwork, exhaustion, hyper stress and mental health difficulties.
The poor treatment of healthcare workers has compromised the quality of healthcare provided. Resulting in a healthcare system ill-prepared for shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The long-term vision of the #Care4Carers campaign is to achieve a quality, universal, people centered, resilient healthcare system that is responsive to the needs of communities, society and healthcare workers that is free at the point of use.
The #Care4Carers campaign recognises that healthcare workers, nurses and community healthcare workers are the life support of households, society and the economy. Key to achieving this goal is to ensure that healthcare workers, are fairly treated in recognition of their human rights and to enable them to provide a better healthcare for all.
The #Care4Carers campaign will focus on achieving these objectives:
With others call for the provision of mass testing, medical attention and PPE’s for all healthcare workers.
With others, achieve recognition of the gendered nature of healthcare work and ensure gender sensitive policies and practices.
With others call for a healthcare system that recognises, values, and fairly rewards the work of healthcare workers.
With others call for a quality universal, people-centred, resilient healthcare system that is responsive to the needs of the communities, society and healthcare workers. Free at the point of use.
Allies
How to get involved
We need our brave healthcare workers to be well resourced and protected to successfully fight the COVID-19 pandemic and other healthcare crises. However, healthcare workers in South Africa are treated poorly by employers. This poor treatment compromises the quality of health care that they provide to users of these essential services. This has resulted in a healthcare system ill prepared for shocks such as COVID-19.
Join #Care4Carers Campaign and have your say!
The campaign is initiated by @OxfamSA, @Nursesindaba, @Saftu_media, @NupsawHQ, @TAC and Nucwosa
Are you a nurse or community healthcare worker? Join the #Care4Carers campaign. Join the @Care4Carers campaign.
Join the social media campaign – Using the hashtag #Care4Carers
Using the hashtag #Care4Carers, feel free to adopt any creative means to tell us:
What are your thoughts about healthcare during this pandemic?
Endorse our Joint Media Statement by clicking the Joint Media Statement button below.
Tag @OxfamSA on Twitter/FB/Instagram along with 3 other friends, encouraging them to join in the conversation. Nurses & community healthcare workers voices matter. Tell us what you think.
Sign the Petition
Tell Netcare, Life Healthcare Group and Mediclinic to protect healthcare workers and save lives
We are in a fight for our lives! And our frontline workers need your help. In order to provide quality and safe healthcare for us all; all healthcare workers should have access to regular free testing and to be provided with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and free medical attention.
These companies need to step up and show they care about more than shareholder profits. In this time of crisis, we must prioritise the health and wellbeing of all South Africans not just those who are wealthy.
Tell Netcare, Mediclinic, and Life that they need to stop shareholder pay-outs (dividends and share buybacks) till 2022 to ensure that all available resources are prioritized for free regular testing for all healthcare workers, and free medical attention for healthcare workers who contract Covid-19 and adequate (PPEs) for all healthcare workers working in South Africa in public and private facilities.
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