Abdullah Amina, Sefuthi Thatohatsi, Ramokgopa Mapato, Fonn Sharon, Nkonki Lungiswa
Department of Global Health, Division of Health Systems and Public Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Dec 2;24(1):1524. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11994-x.
Future emergencies from climate degradation or diseases are likely, prompting ongoing investment in emergency readiness and learning from country responses. South Africa's healthcare system, divided into public and private sectors, required a coordinated, intersectoral response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A coordinated action that the South African government took was adapting competition regulations. The South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on 19 March 2020, published a block exemption (easing of competition rules) for healthcare to promote standardization of practices across the health sector and facilitate agreements between the National Department of Health and the private sector to ensure adequate service delivery to all South Africans.
We assessed how much coverage the block exemption for healthcare received in the media and if the scope included details of what the exemption meant, how stakeholders and the public could use it, and the resulting public sentiment. We conducted a media content analysis to select, screen and assess the media material. Online and social-media articles in the public domain from 19 March 2020 to 19 March 2021, in English were considered.
We analysed 22 online media articles that matched our inclusion criteria. Twenty of these reflected a positive sentiment, and two were negative. Media reported on the COVID-19 block exemption in healthcare only in the first three months of our study period. The articles primarily communicated what the block exemption meant, focusing on allowing collaboration, the purpose of the exemption, the activities granted under the exemption and the actors to whom it applied. It's estimated that these media articles could have been read by up to 432,003 people out of a total population of just under 43 million people over the age of 15 years.
In times of crisis, the media has a significant responsibility to provide accurate information to the public. However, the accuracy and reliability of such information depends on the quality of official sources on which the media relies. Our research shows that very few media reports were available about the block exemption for healthcare. While the government implemented the exemption, it did not communicate its purpose directly to the public. Our research highlights the need for better communication between policymakers and the media.
未来因气候恶化或疾病引发的紧急情况很可能发生，这促使人们持续投资于应急准备工作，并从各国的应对措施中吸取经验教训。南非的医疗体系分为公共部门和私营部门，应对新冠疫情需要跨部门的协调行动。南非政府采取的一项协调行动是调整竞争法规。2020年3月19日，南非贸易、工业和竞争部发布了一项医疗保健领域的集体豁免（放宽竞争规则），以促进整个卫生部门的做法标准化，并便利国家卫生部与私营部门之间达成协议，确保为所有南非人提供充足的服务。
我们评估了媒体对医疗保健领域集体豁免的报道程度，以及报道范围是否包括豁免的含义、利益相关者和公众如何利用它以及由此产生的公众情绪等细节。我们进行了媒体内容分析，以筛选和评估媒体材料。考虑了2020年3月19日至2021年3月19日期间公共领域的英文在线和社交媒体文章。
我们分析了22篇符合纳入标准的在线媒体文章。其中20篇反映了积极情绪，2篇为负面情绪。媒体仅在我们研究期间的前三个月报道了医疗保健领域的新冠集体豁免。这些文章主要传达了集体豁免的含义，重点是允许合作、豁免的目的、豁免下允许开展的活动以及适用的行为主体。据估计，在15岁以上总人口近4300万中，这些媒体文章的读者可能多达432,003人。
在危机时期，媒体有重大责任向公众提供准确信息。然而，此类信息的准确性和可靠性取决于媒体所依赖的官方来源的质量。我们的研究表明，关于医疗保健领域集体豁免的媒体报道非常少。虽然政府实施了豁免，但并未直接向公众传达其目的。我们的研究强调了政策制定者与媒体之间加强沟通的必要性。
