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. 2023 Jun 17:13:26335565231182483.
doi: 10.1177/26335565231182483. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Multimorbidity in South Africa: Is the health system ready?

Rifqah Abeeda Roomaney  1   2 , Brian van Wyk  2 , Victoria Pillay-van Wyk  1
Affiliations

Multimorbidity in South Africa: Is the health system ready?

Rifqah Abeeda Roomaney et al. J Multimorb Comorb. .

Abstract

Background: Multimorbidity is likely to be a significant contributor to ill health and inequality in South Africa and yet has been largely overlooked. Purpose: This paper focuses on the findings of a recent large study that highlighted emerging issues - namely (i) the high levels of multimorbidity among three key groups - older adults, women, and the wealthy; (ii) discordant and concordant disease clusters among the multimorbid. Research Design: Narrative. Study Sample and Data Collection: Not applicable. Results: We discuss the implications of each emerging issue for health systems policy and practice. Conclusion: Although key policies are identified, many of these policies are not implemented and are therefore not part of routine practice, leaving much space for improvement.

Keywords: Multimorbidity; South Africa; ageing; integrated care.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Multimorbidity prevalence by survey, age group and gender(weighted).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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