December 07, 2023
South Africa: In-Depth - What Is the Situation With Self-Managed Abortions in SA?
In a context where access to surgical abortion is limited, self-managed abortion has the potential to help women realise their right to terminate pregnancies, in privacy and from… Read more »
October 09, 2023
Uganda: Interview - a Simple Device Used After Birth Can Help Save Lives, Says Award-Winning Young Innovator
As a child growing up in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, Maureen Etuket used a screwdriver to dismantle electronic appliances and toy trucks. "I was around eight, nine years old,"… Read more »
October 03, 2023
South Africa: 'There's So Much Respiratory Disease and There's So Much to Be Done,' Says Leading Paediatrics Prof
New vaccines to protect infants and unborn babies from contracting highly contagious seasonal Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) were just approved in the United States. Speaking… Read more »
September 05, 2023
South Africa: Hospital Histories - the Many Lives That Started At Mowbray Maternity
Weighing little more than three bricks of butter, baby Lunathi Sitembile is pressed against mum Yolanda's bare chest, a thin tube entering her nostril and another taped to her tiny… Read more »
August 31, 2023
South Africa: Breastfeeding While Hungry - Is Enough Being Done to Support Mothers in the Free State?
Earlier this month, from 1 to 7 August, the world celebrated breastfeeding week under the theme - "Enabling breastfeeding: making a difference for working parents". This global… Read more »
April 13, 2023
Africa: Major Study Turns Spotlight On Formula Milk Industry
The scientific evidence that exclusive breastfeeding is best for infants is very strong. Yet, some baby milk formula companies continue to use questionable methods to create demand… Read more »
February 22, 2023
South Africa: Vaginal Ring to Prevent HIV Safe to Use in Late Pregnancy and While Breastfeeding
Women can safely use a monthly, antiretroviral-containing vaginal ring to prevent HIV infection during late pregnancy and while breastfeeding with no risk to their babies, new… Read more »
December 06, 2022
South Africa: Experts Call for Better Screening and Treatment of TB During Pregnancy
Busisiwe Beko, from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, was diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) while she was pregnant. She remembers it as a very difficult period in… Read more »
September 28, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - What's Behind the Increase in Malnutrition Deaths Among Free State Infants?
On the day Luleka Gqumeta's baby died, she says she was in the streets begging for food for her and her children. It was October 2020, amid COVID-19-related social restrictions and… Read more »
September 08, 2022
South Africa: Climate Change Can Set Back Maternal Health, Says Researcher #AfricaClimateCrisis
Researchers around the world are drawing an ever-more distinct line between rising global temperatures and negative effects on maternal, foetal, and infant health. One of these… Read more »
September 09, 2022
South Africa: Mothers and Babies Pay the Price for Medical Xenophobia
At SECTION27, we often engage with pregnant women and young children being denied access to healthcare services at hospitals in Gauteng. This is despite that providing free health… Read more »
August 19, 2022
Africa: Abortion Rights in Three African Countries After a Major Setback in the US
The right to abortion has been catapulted into the spotlight by Dobbs v Jackson, the landmark judgment of the United States (US) Supreme Court that overturned Roe v Wade - a… 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 »