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The Return of the Pholela Experiment

Medical History and Primary Health Care in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID11023925
AuthorsHoward Phillips (Howard Phillips is with the Department of Historical Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa., corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume104
Issue10
Pages1872-1876
Publication date2014-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2014.302136
PMID25208002
OpenAlexW2020183748
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited3

I examine why South Africa’s pioneering Pholela model of primary health care, dating from the 1940s, held such appeal for the country’s new policymakers after 1994, and why those policymakers have failed to make it the basis of an effective public health care system since then. In the 1940s, the innovative Pholela experiment had served as such a model, to be replicated gradually throughout the country until a new health care system in its image was finally in place. However, this vision was dashed by the hostility of the mainstream medical profession and, after 1948, even more so by the new apartheid government, causing the idea to wither and become no more than a vanishing memory. In the 1990s, the model resurfaced as part of the country’s transition to democracy, eliciting great enthusiasm among a new generation of health policymakers. I conclude by looking at the fate to date of this second coming of the Pholela experiment

Appeal · Democracy · Economic growth · Economics · Enthusiasm · Government (linguistics) · Health care · Hostility · Mainstream · Political science · Politics · Public health · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works2
Citations per year0,4
Citation span2021 - 2026 (6)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 2

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