Critical illness pioneer Dr Marius Barnard dies

Dr Barnard was a renowned cardiac surgeon - he assisted his brother Christiaan in the world's first heart transplant on December 3, 1967 at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.  He was motivated by the financial hardship he saw his patients suffer to convince the South African insurance companies to introduce a new type of insurance to cover critical illnesses. On 6 August 1983 the first critical illness insurance policy was launched. Dr Barnard was also a member of the South African parliament between 1980 and 1989, for the Progressive Federal Party - which oppos...