# Challenge: Accessible Healthcare There has been significant expansion of access to healthcare services in South Africa. Significant challenges persist but these can be addressed through stronger partnerships, a shared understanding of priorities and more effective use of available resources. Data can be an useful enabler for building this understanding and for good planning. In addition, as South Africa prepares for National Health Insurance (NHI) there will be a critical need for open data about available services and associated procurement and payment. People will need to know what they can access, where, at what cost and at what quality from both public and private healthcare providers. Also, there will need to be transparency about supply chains and pricing so that the provision of services is competitive and potential subsidies do not inflate costs. {% hint style="info" %} For user-friendly applications and underlying data see these [healthcare data resources](/toolkit/open-data-resources/healthcare-data-resources.md), from facility locations to medicine pricing. {% endhint %} ### 17-18 August 2018: Limpopo Health Data Hackathon This hackathon is a collaboration between Limpopo Connexion and Open Data South Africa, with the Mobile Applications Laboratory of Southern Africa (mLab) and University of Limpopo. We are inviting students and individuals from the private sector to work in teams over two days, to build data stories and app ideas related to health care in the Province. Possible topics and data sources include: * How accessible are health care services for residents of Limpopo? * How can we improve the health of vulnerable people? * How do we reduce non-communicable diseases? * How accessible is medicine for residents of Limpopo? * Other topics you would like to propose The hackathon is taking place at the University of Limpopo. For the hackathon programme see the briefing document here: ### 28-30 September 2018: Service Delivery #IgniteHack Open Data South Africa partnered with the Department of Public Service and Administration, the CPSI, the University of Johannesburg and Geekulcha to host the Service Delivery [#IgniteHack](https://ignitehack.devpost.com/). A strong emphasis was placed on health-related topics and data. More details on the hackathon challenge briefs and resources can be accessed here: * Values-Driven Public Service * Maternal Care * Gender-Based Violence * Youth Skills and Work * Healthy Environment --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://opendataza.gitbook.io/toolkit/activities-notices/challenge-meds.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.