Medicine and Health Care in South Africa — Five Years Later

Abstract

THE pace of political and social change in South Africa has quickened dramatically since my previous review¹ of medicine and health care, and there has been a resurgence of hope that at last real progress may be made toward a legitimate society capable of contributing to peace, stability, economic growth, and health in Southern Africa. Despite the instability and violence that have followed the dramatic changes initiated by President F.W. de Klerk in February 1990 and the many ambiguities associated with subsequent negotiations, optimism runs high for the future of the Southern African subcontinent.