Some Chinese officials are miffed that party leaders are focusing so much on helping other nations overcome their health and education challenges. Recently, for example, senior health officials admitted that China needs to focus on its domestic problems before trying to solve the world’s problems.
Like in its BRICS counterparts, in South Africa, federal spending for health care has increased over the years. That, in part, reflects the government’s commitment in 2009 to implement universal health insurance. But there has been no matching effort to ensure that public hospitals have sufficient medical equipment and adequate personnel. Aaron Motsoaledi, the country’s health minister, stated that the quality of public health care is “often totally unacceptable.”