South Africa: Participatory Democracy - What Will Be On the Line When the Country's Highest Court Turns to NHI in May?

From 5-7 May, the Constitutional Court will hear two of the multiple challenges to the NHI Act. Sasha Stevenson, Executive Director of SECTION27, considers what will be on the line… Read more »

South Africa: Ramaphosa's Choice of Director-General for Health Will Test His Commitment to Building a Capable State

When push comes to shove, President Cyril Ramaphosa's talk of building a more capable state hasn't always been backed up by the appointment of committed and capable people to key… Read more »

South Africa: How Medicines Pricing Works in South Africa and How It Might Change in Future

In South Africa, as in many places, pharmaceutical companies are not free to change medicine prices as they wish. In his latest Inside The Box column, Dr Andy Gray unpacks how… Read more »

South Africa: If Covid-19, Why Not TB? Mr President, It's Time for a Family Chat

South Africa had several "family chats" in which President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He should do the same for tuberculosis,… Read more »

South Africa: #InsideTheBox With Dr Andy Gray - Where Are We On the Road to More Coherent Cannabis Regulation?

There has been much confusion and misunderstandings about how cannabis and associated products are regulated in South Africa, with government's own missteps adding to the… Read more »

South Africa: What Has Actually Happened On NHI This Year?

It is not a stretch to say that the NHI Act has been one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in post-apartheid South Africa. Read more »

South Africa: South Africa Has Relatively High Anal Cancer Rates, but We Rarely Screen for It

South Africa has the world's largest population of people living with HIV, which both heightens the risk of anal cancers and their severity. However, neither the collection of data… Read more »

South Africa: After a Damning Report, Health Dept Says Issues At Mafikeng Provincial Hospital Are Being Addressed

Mafikeng Provincial Hospital, a critical public healthcare facility in the North West, is facing a slew of challenges from broken and faulty medical equipment, long waiting times… Read more »

South Africa: Monitoring People's Blood Pressure in Their Homes Leads to Better Control - Study Finds

Hypertension - a condition where blood pressure is consistently higher than normal - is poorly managed in South Africa. Remarkable findings from a study in rural KwaZulu-Natal… Read more »

South Africa: Government and the Private Sector Should Team Up to Improve Healthcare, Conference Hears

Government and the private sector could work together much more effectively to improve healthcare services in South Africa, but the potential of such a partnership remains largely… Read more »

South Africa: Public Participation in Medicines Selection and Regulation - Lacking?

In several countries, the public is given an opportunity to share their views with regulators before new medicines are registered or to engage with those choosing essential… Read more »

South Africa: Between Silence and Sirens - Cape Town Trauma Surgeon Dr Deidre Mcpherson's Midnight Vigils

Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has one of the busiest emergency centres in the Western Cape. As it turns to the public to raise R20 million for the opening of a new emergency… Read more »

South Africa: Medical Devices Aren't Regulated in SA, but That Is Set to Change

Unlike with medicines, and with a few exceptions, South Africa's regulator does not assess whether diagnostic tests and other medical devices on the market are safe and work as… Read more »

South Africa: The Rot Runs Deep - Gauteng Health's Dance of Impunity Betrays the People It Is Meant to Serve

The courts have spoken. The health ombud has issued devastating reports. The Auditor-General has again put damning evidence on the table. Civil society has protested. Yet, the… Read more »

South Africa: Cancer Court Battle Rumbles On As Gauteng Health Again Appeals

Activists say the Gauteng Department of Health's late appeal to a court judgment that compels it to act on cancer treatment backlogs is raising more questions about what the… Read more »

South Africa: On Which Legal Arguments Are the NHI Court Cases Set to Turn? Part 1 - Affordability

Since President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the NHI Act into law last year in May, eight different groups have challenged it in court. One common argument is that it is irrational and… Read more »

South Africa: Battle to Breathe - What We Know About Air Pollution in Mpumalanga and People's Health

Journalist Sue Segar and photographer Thom Pierce recently visited Emalahleni in Mpumalanga to report on how air pollution is impacting the health of people in the area. In part 3… Read more »

South Africa: 'We Can't Save Them Anymore' - Doctors Raise Alarm About Crippling Cuts At Major KZN Hospital

Doctors have blown the whistle about a crisis at one of KwaZulu-Natal's most important public hospitals, saying it is functioning far under capacity due to a series of crippling… Read more »

South Africa: Stateless in South Africa - Primrose Modisane's Years-Long Struggle for Legal Recognition

When South Africans get caught up in the country's often dysfunctional home affairs system, sometimes even DNA evidence isn't enough to prove their citizenship. This can, among… Read more »

South Africa: With a PhD At 74, This Veteran Nurse Is Still Leading With Grace and Grit

With humour, warmth and steely resolve, Princess Anne-Sheilah Makhado speaks to Spotlight about her long journey as a nurse, of creating solutions in the public health system, and… Read more »

South Africa: SA's Doctor Deal With Cuba Is Out of Touch and Out of Time, Critics Say

The Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro medical training programme has been controversial from the start. It's had high points, low points and many say it should have an end point. Read more »

South Africa: Should Pharmaceutical Advertising in SA Be Better Regulated, and Why?

For over 20 years, the law has required that the Minister of Health issues regulations to govern the advertising of medicines in South Africa, but as yet no such regulations are in… Read more »

South Africa: Questions Over Tripling of Gauteng Health's Security Budget

In just two years, the Gauteng health department's spending on security has more than tripled. We try to get to the bottom of the ballooning bills and what it means for governance… Read more »

Mozambique: Death in Mozambique - After U.S. Funding Cuts, a Health System Crumbles

Part two: If Marco Rubio came here, "we could show him the evidence" of deaths, says villager. Read more »

South Africa: Attempts Underway to Fix Gap in South Africa's Plan to Fight Cancer

Experts say cancer patients in the public sector in South Africa are dying for avoidable reasons like dysfunctional referral systems and a lack of medical imaging and treatment. We… Read more »