July 27, 2022
South Africa: SA Research Shedding Light On Role of Microclots in Long Covid
Professor Resia Pretorius sounds rushed when Spotlight first tracks her down by phone at Heathrow Airport outside London. She is about to board a plane to South Africa after… Read more »
July 26, 2022
South Africa: Spotlight On HIV - Six Graphs That Tell the Story
In 2021, HIV was successfully suppressed in the bodies of around 63% of the close to eight million people living with HIV in South Africa. This is according to the latest outputs… Read more »
July 25, 2022
South Africa: Analysis - Vaccine Partnership With U.S. Government Boosts Prospects for Local Production
It has been just over a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the selection of Afrigen Biologics, a Cape Town-based biotechnology company, to host its ambitious… Read more »
July 21, 2022
South Africa: Experts Weigh in On the Potential of Ultrasound for Diagnosing TB in Kids
Tuberculosis (TB) is hard to diagnose in children, especially very young ones. This is because it is difficult for children to cough up the sputum required to perform the gold… Read more »
July 19, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - What to Do About SA's Chronic Surgical Delays
Based on figures from the national Department of Health a staggering number of over 107 000 non-emergency or elective surgeries were put on the back burner during the COVID-19… Read more »
July 20, 2022
South Africa: #WhatItsLike - Helping Cancer Patients Navigate the Public Healthcare System in Gauteng
Some phone calls turn to dread for Ouma Mamatela. It is when she calls cancer patients to tell them they've made it to the top of the treatment waiting list - but then no one picks… Read more »
July 18, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - the Human Cost of Surgical Delays
It is the fifth week of her husband waiting on a surgical procedure for a stent at Tygerberg Hospital when Spotlight catches up with *Mrs Brooks. In February this year, they saw a… Read more »
July 15, 2022
South Africa: Covid-19 - the Role of Next-Generation Vaccines in Immunity
Since its discovery in November, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) has continued to adapt and evolve at an extremely fast pace to evade the body's… Read more »
July 12, 2022
South Africa: Covid-19 - Reinfections Amid 'Complex Mix of Immunity'
Variants of the original version of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) first made headlines in December 2020. It was a sign that SARS-CoV-2 is more volatile than initially… Read more »
July 08, 2022
South Africa: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Crisis, Report Finds
Plans are underway for a study to determine South Africa's public mental health system's ability to cater for the needs of children and adolescents with mental health problems.… Read more »
June 30, 2022
South Africa: Part 2 - How Can We Reduce Incidence of Cerebral Palsy in SA?
It is estimated that around half of medical negligence claims against the South African government are cerebral palsy-type claims. Apart from the direct impact on infants and… Read more »
July 05, 2022
South Africa: Covid-19 Blamed for Shortcomings of 'Ideal Clinics' in Free State
On 23 June, the Free State Department of Health reportedly opened the "first municipal clinic in South Africa which solely operate on solar power and [that] has two 2500 litre each… Read more »
July 04, 2022
South Africa: Are Youth-Only Clinics the Answer to Better Healthcare for Young People?
Getting young people to access healthcare services in the public sector is often an uphill battle. One solution is to have special clinics catering just for the youth. Read more »
July 01, 2022
South Africa: Open Letter - Dr Mokgethi, You Must Act to Address Gauteng's Oncology Challenges
Below is an open letter by Warren Potter to Gauteng Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi. Potter's partner has been affected by the ongoing challenges with radiation oncology in… Read more »
June 29, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - Cerebral Palsy in SA - Part 1
It is estimated that around half of medical negligence claims against government are for cerebral palsy-type claims. Apart from the direct impact on infants and families, cerebral… Read more »
June 28, 2022
South Africa: Report Finds Some Improvement At Mpumalanga Clinics, but Serious Challenges Remain
A year after the first clinic monitoring report highlighted several challenges in some Mpumalanga clinics, some patients still say they sometimes spend over four hours waiting to… Read more »
June 27, 2022
South Africa: Respiratory Virus That Threatens Infants Circulating Again in 2022
According to the United States National Institutes of Health, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is estimated to affect 64 million people around the world every year and claim… Read more »
June 24, 2022
South Africa: Monkeypox - Our Top 10 Questions Answered
On Thursday morning Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla announced that a 30-year-old man from Gauteng with no recent travel history had become the first person in South Africa to be… Read more »
June 22, 2022
South Africa: Shorter, Simpler Dr-TB Regimen Expected Later This Year
Work is underway in South Africa to amend the country's national guidelines for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) to provide a shorter, six-month, all-oral regimen as a new… Read more »
June 20, 2022
South Africa: Unacceptably Long Wait for Surgery in Free State, Healthcare Workers and Patients Say
Surgical waiting lists are not unexpected in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are indications that the situation is particularly acute in the Free State, and… Read more »
June 14, 2022
South Africa: Covid-19 - What Role for Masks, Sanitising, and Ventilation in the New Normal?
South Africa's fifth wave of COVID-19 infections was comparatively small and is already abating. As with the fourth wave, infection was much less likely to result in… Read more »
June 13, 2022
South Africa: Covid-19 - Death Risk in SA Differed Depending On Where People Were Hospitalised
The risk of a hospitalised person dying from COVID-19 in the Eastern Cape was almost double (1.9 times) the risk of someone dying of the disease in the Western Cape. In the largely… Read more »
June 08, 2022
South Africa: Positive Signs for New TB Testing Strategy
Under a new tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis strategy, people considered to be at high risk of TB are offered molecular TB tests, even if they do not have any symptoms. A landmark study… Read more »
June 10, 2022
South Africa: NHI Lawmakers - Interview With FF Plus MP Philip Van Staden
Philip van Staden does not mince his words. As the Freedom Front Plus' lone MP in Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health, he is known to be vocal, often pelting the health… Read more »
June 06, 2022
Africa: Interview - "Guys, I Think That's a New Variant" - De Oliveira Reflects On Two Years Chasing the Virus
South African bioinformatics expert Professor Tulio de Oliveira is still deciding whether to travel to New York City next month to accept his Time Magazine 100 most influential… Read more »