The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) on Thursday called on Parliament to move quickly to enact the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill as an Act of Parliament for implementation to take place urgently.

The long-awaited Bill was sent to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health late last week.

Nehawu welcomed the strides made by government, specifically the Department of Health, towards the full implementation of the NHI, saying the release of the Bill was long overdue.

“We hope that the implementation will begin as soon as possible and that government will not bow down to pressure from private hospital groups and medical aid companies,” the union said in a statement.

Nehawu was adamant that the immediate and full implementation of the NHI would help mitigate the challenges in the public health sector.

Nehawu pointed out that the NHI would provide universal access to quality, affordable health care for all South Africans regardless of their ability to pay, citing that currently, the private sector spends 4.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) which only benefits 16% of the population, while the public sector spends 4.1% of GDP on the remaining 84% of the population.

As a result, the union believed the NHI aimed to correct deeply entrenched inequalities in the health system, and said healthcare was no longer a right for everyone and had instead become a commodity that only the privileged could afford.

Nehawu said the private healthcare system had taken advantage of the poor quality of public healthcare to impose extortionate charges.

“It is for this reason that Nehawu is opposed to the detractors of the NHI which include big hospital groups, medical aid companies and the Democratic Alliance (DA).”

On Tuesday the DA questioned the constitutionality of the NHI Bill and vowed to use all legal options to fight, what it deemed, a bad draft law designed to turn the health system into "another State-owned enterprise".

The Institute of Race Relations said the NHI was silent on key issues and said an overhaul of the health care system was a likely vehicle for graft.

Nehawu rejected speculation that the country would not be able to afford the NHI and said low administrative costs and high efficiency from healthcare providers would allow the NHI to be a success.

“The DA and their ilk must not for a second think that we will fold our arms while they seek to reverse the gains of our revolution. We will wage a relentless war against anyone who seeks to block the implementation of the NHI,” the union warned.