# National Department of Health, South Africa

Source: https://onco.cc/institutions/south-africa-national-department-of-health/  
OnCo record `south-africa-national-department-of-health` (Institution). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

South Africa's national health ministry. Through its National Essential Medicines List Committee it decides which cancer medicines public hospitals should use, it sets the national cervical and breast cancer policies, and it is responsible for the National Health Insurance Act, which has not yet taken effect.

## Summary

The National Department of Health sets national health policy. Its National Essential Medicines List Committee reviews medicines for the standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines lists. At tertiary and quaternary level, the July 2026 list of reviewed items includes, among cancer medicines, imatinib for chronic myeloid leukaemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumours, dasatinib and nilotinib after imatinib, rituximab for first-line diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, lenalidomide for newly diagnosed myeloma (December 2022), bortezomib on special access for transplant-eligible myeloma, and fulvestrant for hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer, approved on 30 July 2026 once a reference price was met. It records as not approved, for example, pemetrexed for lung cancer and mesothelioma, temozolomide for glioblastoma, and rituximab for indolent lymphoma, which it deemed unaffordable at its current price. Trastuzumab for HER2-positive early breast cancer has been on the list since 2017, cut to six months in December 2019, and on 4 June 2026 the committee approved giving it before surgery and for locally advanced disease. New items are to be sourced on a national quotation, where possible, until a national tender is in place. Its 2026 trastuzumab review estimates that about 85 per cent of South Africans rely on the public sector.

The department's Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Policy of June 2017 offers three free screening tests at ten-year intervals from age 30 to women without HIV, and screening every three years or annually for women living with HIV; HPV vaccination of girls in school began in 2014. Its Breast Cancer Prevention and Control Policy of 2017 sets clinical breast examination twice a year for women over 40 attending primary care and reserves mammography for symptomatic and high-risk women, stating that screening mammography should not be introduced unless at least 70 per cent of women aged 50 and older could be reliably screened.

The National Health Insurance Act 20 of 2023, assented to on 15 May 2024, creates a National Health Insurance Fund to purchase care for users. On 24 February 2026 the Presidency said the President had agreed to delay proclaiming any section of the Act until the Constitutional Court rules on challenges to its public participation process, heard in May 2026; the court reserved judgment. The coordinates are a Pretoria centroid, not the street address.

## Fields

- Kind: Institution
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: NDoH; Department of Health (South Africa); National Essential Medicines List Committee; NEMLC
- City: Pretoria, ZA
- Type: government
- Website: https://www.health.gov.za

## Sources

- NEMLC: Tertiary and Quaternary Level Essential Medicines List, reviewed items, July 2026 (PDF): https://www.health.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Tertiary-and-Quaternary-EM-Recommendations-July-2026.pdf
- NEMLC: trastuzumab, neoadjuvant therapy for early breast cancer, limited review, June 2026 (PDF): https://www.health.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Trastuzumab-Neoadjuvant-Therapy-for-Early-Breast-Cancer-NEMLC-Limited-Review-N-June-2026.pdf
- Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Policy, June 2017 (PDF): https://knowledgehub.health.gov.za/system/files/elibdownloads/2023-04/Cervical%2520Cancer%2520Prevention%2520Policy.pdf
- Breast Cancer Prevention and Control Policy, 2017 (PDF): https://knowledgehub.health.gov.za/system/files/elibdownloads/2023-04/Breast-Cancer-Policy-2017.pdf
- National Health Insurance Act 20 of 2023 (PDF): https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202405/50664nathealthinsuranceact202023.pdf
- The Presidency: statement on National Health Insurance Act litigation (24 February 2026): https://presidency.gov.za/node/9772

## Connected records

- cancers: [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/), [Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)](https://onco.cc/cancers/cml/), [Multiple myeloma](https://onco.cc/cancers/multiple-myeloma/)
- technologies: [HPV & HBV vaccination](https://onco.cc/technologies/hpv-vaccine/)
- drugs: [Fulvestrant](https://onco.cc/drugs/fulvestrant/), [Imatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/imatinib/), [Lenalidomide](https://onco.cc/drugs/lenalidomide/), [Trastuzumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/trastuzumab/)
- institutions: [Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital / University of the Witwatersrand](https://onco.cc/institutions/wits-charlotte-maxeke/), [Council for Medical Schemes, South Africa](https://onco.cc/institutions/council-for-medical-schemes/), [National Cancer Registry, South Africa](https://onco.cc/institutions/national-cancer-registry-south-africa/), [National Health Laboratory Service, South Africa](https://onco.cc/institutions/nhls-south-africa/), [South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA)](https://onco.cc/institutions/sahpra/), [Steve Biko Academic Hospital / University of Pretoria](https://onco.cc/institutions/steve-biko-academic-hospital/)
- key papers: [Population impact of South Africa's human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme on HPV prevalence in adolescent girls with and without HIV: a repeat cross-sectional study](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-machalek-hpv-vaccine-impact-south-africa-lancet-glob-health-2026/)

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