October 25, 2023
South Africa: Mixed Feelings On NHI Aired At Eastern Cape Hearing
Concerns over corruption and whether or not foreign nationals would be covered under South Africa's proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) system were some of the issues raised… Read more »
October 24, 2023
South Africa: In-Depth - Will Eastern Cape Health Reforms Survive the Change in Leadership?
The Eastern Cape Department of Health has for years made headlines for the wrong reasons. These include overcrowded hospital wards, dilapidated infrastructure, food shortages,… Read more »
October 20, 2023
South Africa: Exciting Health Reforms Are Possible If We Can Move Beyond All the Political Sclerosis
It is often enlightening for us at Spotlight to ask how and why certain services differ in the ways they do between the private and public healthcare sectors. Read more »
October 05, 2023
South Africa: Mabuyane Under Fire for Moving Eastern Cape Head of Health
This week, several healthcare stakeholders have slammed Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane's announcement that the heads of several provincial departments have been seconded to… Read more »
September 28, 2023
South Africa: How Does SA Measure Up Against New TB Recommendations?
A new report from the Lancet Commission on Tuberculosis (TB) titled 'Scientific advances and the end of tuberculosis' makes several recommendations for how governments should go… Read more »
September 27, 2023
South Africa: Many in Eastern Cape Still Denied Health Services Despite Some Improvements, Report Finds
A woman in her forties who is living with HIV says she was denied services at a public healthcare facility because she didn't have a transfer letter, resulting in her treatment… Read more »
September 26, 2023
South Africa: Mixed Reactions Over Gauteng Jobs Campaign and What It May Mean for Health
In June this year, the Gauteng government launched a major recruitment drive called Nasi iSpani. As explained on Business Live by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, the Nasi iSpani… Read more »
September 21, 2023
South Africa: Clinical Associates Praised At Rural Health Conference, but Questions Remain Over Government Backing
South Africa faces chronic healthcare worker shortages and the country's Human Resources for Health Strategy 2030 has warned of an impending healthcare worker crisis. The shortages… Read more »
September 18, 2023
South Africa: Concerns Raised At Public Health Conference Over Freezing of Healthcare Worker Posts
The National Treasury's Cost Containment Letter sent to government departments instructing, among others, the freezing of posts was one of the big themes underlying talks about… Read more »
September 14, 2023
South Africa: Free State Bottom of the List When It Comes to Multi-Month Dispensing of ARVs, Survey Finds
The percentage of people living with HIV receiving a three to six-month supply of ARVs at a time in the Free State has dropped from 13% last year to 3% this year, making the… Read more »
September 08, 2023
South Sudan: In-Depth - What Two Major Bills Might Mean for Health Sector Procurement in SA
Recently, in a major feat for transparency and accountability, the North Gauteng High Court ordered that the public must have access to COVID-19 procurement contracts - details of… Read more »
August 29, 2023
South Africa: Calls Mount to Act Against Senior Northern Cape Health Officials Implicated in Alleged PPE Corruption
The head of health in the Northern Cape Dr Dion Theys - appeared in the Kimberly Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Read more »
August 25, 2023
South Africa: We Are Short-Changing Women With Budget Cuts, Corruption, and Underspending in Health
It is often said that when you educate a girl; you educate a nation. The same rings true for investing in women's health, which ultimately benefits our entire country. The World… Read more »
August 14, 2023
South Africa: Incentives Seem to Work in Private Healthcare, Why Not in Public?
Doing 'the right thing' for one's health, be it eating well, exercising, or going for an annual HIV test or blood pressure check, is easier said than done. One way to nudge people… Read more »
August 02, 2023
South Africa: There Are Paths to Quality Universal Healthcare Besides NHI
One of the most damaging aspects of our public discourse on National Health Insurance (NHI) is the mistaken notion that the only two options are NHI and the status quo. Often… Read more »
August 01, 2023
South Africa: Mixed Responses to Gauteng Health's Latest Security Plans
Following reports of healthcare workers who have been bitten, punched, hit in the face, robbed, assaulted, or even killed in healthcare facilities in Gauteng, the province's health… Read more »
July 25, 2023
South Africa: HIV Investments Remain No-Brainers, but Some Things Need to Change
Making the case for governments and donors to pump money into the HIV response has become more difficult over the last decade. This is partly a result of the notable successes… Read more »
June 27, 2023
South Africa: Mpumalanga Health Department Responds to Latest Clinic Monitoring Findings
According to the latest report from community-based clinic monitoring group Ritshidze, users of public sector health facilities in Mpumalanga are experiencing shorter waiting… Read more »
June 22, 2023
South Africa: Right of Reply - Reducing the Surgical and Cancer Treatment Backlogs Is an Urgent Priority
Recently an opinion piece was published on this platform bemoaning what the author described as a "... lack of urgency" to tackle the backlog of cancer treatment in Gauteng,… Read more »
June 19, 2023
South Africa: Can South Africa Meet Diabetes Targets, and Would We Know If We Did?
South Africa has the highest prevalence of diabetes in Africa, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). In 2021, an estimated one in nine adults in the country had… Read more »
May 05, 2023
South Africa: Analysis - 21 Months Later, What Progress Has Wagner Made in the Eastern Cape?
For years, the Eastern Cape Department of Health has made the headlines, often for the wrong reasons. From rat-infested hospitals and newborn babies dying in overcrowded and… Read more »
April 12, 2023
Africa: After UN Report, New Focus On Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment
A recent United Nations report, titled 'Bracing for Superbugs: Strengthening environmental action in the One Health response to antimicrobial resistance', has put the Spotlight on… Read more »
April 06, 2023
South Africa: Do We Have to Balance the Right to Health With the Right to Strike?
South Africa's public health sector strikes often come down to pitting two rights against each other - the right of workers to strike and the rights of patients to access… Read more »
April 05, 2023
Africa: Are NGOs Doing the Work of the State, and Should They?
People in South Africa are used to reports of organisations like Gift of the Givers stepping in during humanitarian emergencies or service delivery NGOs assisting with HIV or… Read more »
March 30, 2023
South Africa: Ongoing Security Concerns At Gauteng Hospitals Amid Reports of Cable Theft
Already bogged down by loadshedding, operations at various health facilities in Gauteng and some other provinces have also been disrupted due to cable theft, creating another layer… Read more »