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A new report by the Centre for Health Policy, University of Witwatersrand; the  Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town and McMaster University provides highlights of the findings of the phase 1 Researching Equity in Access to Health Care (REACH) project, completed in 2009. REACH aims to document levels of and inequities in access, according to socio-economic status, gender, and urban/rural status, within the public health system for three services: maternal health (focusing on emergency and specialised needs at the time of delivery), tuberculosis care, and antiretroviral therapy.

Detailed case studies were undertaken in Bushbuckridge (Mpumalanga), Mitchell’s Plain (Western Cape), Soweto Region D of the City of Johannesburg (Gauteng) and Hlabisa (KwaZulu-Natal).

The first phase investigated who the users of services were and assessed whether they reflected the population in need (socio-economically, gender, race, citizenship etc). Phase 1 also analysed the access challenges they experience with respect to availability, affordability and acceptability.

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