The provision of universal access to healthcare, a right enshrined in the South African Constitution, is the responsibility of government. Although much progress has been made towards the creation of a national health system which makes ’access to health for all’ a reality, much remains to be a means to facilitate debate on the subject, the Policy Analysis Unit of the Human Sciences Research Council, hosted a colloquium on ’Health within a comprehensive system of social security’, under the auspices of the South African National Liaison Committee of Unesco’.