December 08, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - the State of Asthma in SA
Asthma is a disease that can easily be controlled through the correct use of medications, yet in many low-and-middle-income countries like South Africa, many still die due to lack… Read more »
December 07, 2022
South Africa: Testing Stool Can Help Detect TB in Children
Most tuberculosis (TB) testing today relies on sputum samples coughed up from the lungs. This makes intuitive sense since pulmonary (or lung) TB is the most common form of TB and… Read more »
December 05, 2022
South Africa: Some in Free State Only Given ARVs for Two Weeks At a Time
Both health minister Dr Joe Phaahla and health authorities in the Free State last week denied claims from activists that there are shortages of antiretroviral medicines at health… Read more »
December 02, 2022
South Africa: World Aids Day 2022 - Choice, Convenience, and Respect Should Be the Cornerstone of SA's HIV Response
In Spotlight's analysis of South Africa's HIV response in recent years, two issues have stood out consistently. Read more »
November 28, 2022
South Africa: Keep an Eye On Quality As We Rush to Test People for HIV
As we approach World AIDS Day on 1 December, healthcare providers will be offering HIV screening and testing as part of a comprehensive health service. Read more »
November 24, 2022
South Africa: New Resistance Tests Set to Improve TB Treatment
Some strains of the tuberculosis (TB) bacterium have mutated to become resistant to some of the drugs commonly used to treat TB. Accordingly, one of the first questions to ask when… Read more »
November 23, 2022
South Africa: Kwazulu-Natal Doing Well Compared to Other Provinces but Some Health Services Still a Challenge
KwaZulu-Natal clinics are outperforming facilities monitored in other provinces on various indicators and health services in the province have improved year-on-year, but some… Read more »
November 22, 2022
South Africa: Pilot Projects Set to Inform Rollout of HIV Prevention Shot
South Africa is expected to begin piloting the HIV prevention injection early next year as one of several projects that experts hope will reveal the answers to some of the biggest… Read more »
November 21, 2022
South Africa: Face to Face - Prof Helen Rees On SAHPRA, Women's Rights, and Her Appetite for Justice
As a rebellious teenager growing up in the British town of Harpenden, Helen Rees would sneak out to attend anti-apartheid talks. "That was the stop-the-Boks tour," she recalls.… Read more »
November 18, 2022
South Africa: Mental Health Screening for People With TB Will Change Lives and Boost SA's TB Response
After two years of COVID-19 and disruption of normal healthcare services such as those for tuberculosis (TB), welcome-back initiatives were started across provinces to get people… Read more »
November 16, 2022
South Africa: Decaying Infrastructure At Tambo Hospital Still Putting Patients and Health Workers At Risk
In 2017 an assessment commissioned by Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg in Gauteng reportedly found that the hospital building was "unfit for human habitation" and was considered… Read more »
November 17, 2022
South Africa: Still Many Unknowns, but Long-Covid Is Real and Deserves Support for Rehabilitation, Says Expert
"I think I'm in trouble," came the message through to Professor Veronica Ueckermann one evening during the first surge of COVID-19 in South Africa in the winter of 2020. It was a… Read more »
November 15, 2022
Africa: TB Treatment Can Be Cut to Two Months for Some, Finds Landmark Study
Some cases of tuberculosis (TB) can be successfully treated in as little as two months - a third of the current standard of six months in South Africa and most other countries.… Read more »
November 14, 2022
South Africa: Face to Face - 'Everything About Health Is About Behaviour', Says Professor Mosa Moshabela
Speaking on Zoom from New York City, Professor Mosa Moshabela quietly notes the junctures and dilemmas that shaped his journey from a Limpopo village to the global health stage. Read more »
November 11, 2022
South Africa: How Can We Make Surgical Care Accessible By Drawing On Lessons From the Aids Movement?
One out of every three people in South Africa will need surgical care during their lifetime. Surgical care is essential to achieving health and well-being, but access to it is… Read more »
November 10, 2022
South Africa: Breathing Easier - How Madwaleni Hospital Started Producing Its Own Oxygen
As the strain on the Eastern Cape's oxygen supply increased during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities often had to intervene and use their own trucks… Read more »
November 09, 2022
South Africa: South Africa Expected to Begin Piloting HIV Prevention Shot in Early 2023
South Africa is expected to begin piloting the every-other-month HIV prevention shot early next year, according to the international medicine financing initiative Unitaid. New… Read more »
November 08, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - Major SAMRC Study Sheds Light On Causes of Disease and Death in SA
Unsafe sex, interpersonal violence, high body mass index (BMI), high systolic blood pressure, and alcohol consumption are the top risk factors for disease and death in South… Read more »
November 01, 2022
South Africa: Faces of Health - 'Sr Fikx' - the Nurse Activist Unafraid to Speak Out Against Corruption
Fiery nurse activist Fikile Dikolomela-Lengene says she has had a front-row seat to corruption unfolding in Gauteng's public health sector, and she is not afraid to speak out. Read more »
November 02, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - Good Sexual and Reproductive Health Services On Paper, but Implementation Gaps Remain
There has been a gradual increase in the number of adolescents visiting healthcare facilities in South Africa and in the number of adolescents giving birth in healthcare facilities… Read more »
November 04, 2022
South Africa: Construction and Maintenance Delays Plague 'Ideal Hospital' in Kroonstad
Delayed construction work, poor maintenance, water shortages, and surgical backlogs are some of the problems patients and healthcare workers face at Boitumelo Regional Hospital in… Read more »
October 28, 2022
South Africa: 56,000 TB Deaths in SA in 2021, Estimates WHO
In 2021 an estimated 304 000 people in South Africa fell ill with tuberculosis and 56 000 died from the disease, according to new World Health Organization (WHO) figures released… Read more »
October 26, 2022
South Africa: Making Access to Surgical Care a Reality in District Hospitals
By September this year, public hospitals in the country were buckling under backlogs of over 175 000 surgeries. Spotlight earlier this year published a two-part series on the human… Read more »
October 24, 2022
South Africa: In the Hot Seat - New Gauteng Health MEC Responds to 10 Questions From Spotlight
On 7 October, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi appointed Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko to the position of MEC for Health in the province. Nkomo-Ralehoko replaced Nomathemba Mokgethi, who… Read more »
October 21, 2022
South Africa: Digital X-Rays Boosting TB Diagnosis, Assessment Finds
TB diagnosis usually starts with asking someone whether they have any of the classic symptoms of TB (coughing, fever, loss of weight, and drenching night sweats in adults).… Read more »