A bad case of lack of empathy TAUREEF MOHAMMED WHY, FOR decades, have governments not cared to radically reform a broken, unfair, unjust, undignified and sometimes simply dehumanising system, where the best healthcare is a privilege, not a right, where prime ministers and the wealthy receive timely treatment for life-threatening conditions while others must accept second best? Is it that we don’t know how to fix the problem? Surely not. I am certain there are piles of reports collecting dust in the Ministry of Health on how to fix it. In fact, in 2015, speaking about a national health insurance plan, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said: “Our manifesto, which is our policy, speaks to a comprehensive national system which will give all citizens the basic right to be treated at any institution of their choice and receive healthcare to which they are entitled.”