July 29
Africa: Aids 2024 - Exciting Developments With the Jabs Promising to Revolutionise HIV Prevention
Taking antiretrovirals to prevent HIV infection mostly still involves swallowing one or more pills a day. Some long-acting products that work for a month or two at a time have been… Read more »
November 28, 2023
South Africa: Lead Poisoning Part 2 - Scientists Find Toxic Metals in Kitchenware
A small study published in September found that some ceramic plates and bowls bought from South African chain stores are coated in glaze that contains lead, a toxic heavy metal… Read more »
November 20, 2023
South Africa: Country's Remarkable TB Clinical Trial Capacity
Several of the world's most important tuberculosis (TB) clinical trials of the last two decades were done in part or entirely in South Africa. These include several trials that… 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 »
September 22, 2023
South Africa: Better Data and Transparency Needed If We Are to Live Up to TB Rhetoric At UN
There is a renewed global commitment to tackle tuberculosis (TB) from global leaders who are meeting in New York today for the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB. The meeting… Read more »
July 31, 2023
South Africa: Growing the Beta Variant - Young Scientist Remembers the Day They Danced in the Lab
In a Durban laboratory in 2020, there was dancing and scientists jumping with joy when Dr Sandile Cele realised they had finally successfully "grown" the SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant.… Read more »
July 26, 2023
Africa: Statin Lowers Cardio Risk in People Living With HIV, Large Study Finds
HIV increases a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), but there are unanswered questions on how to best manage this elevated risk. One such question is whether… Read more »
July 03, 2023
Africa: Face to Face - 'Fail Your Way to Success', Says Prof Behind Pioneering Drug Discovery Group At UCT
Inside Professor Kelly Chibale's office the bookshelves are packed with awards. On the walls, framed photographs include his class photo at Cambridge University in the United… Read more »
June 15, 2023
Africa: In-Depth - What It Means to Build Genomics Capacity in Africa
South African scientists - notably, the team headed by Professor Tulio de Oliveira - were thrown into the global spotlight through their pivotal role in detecting and monitoring… Read more »
April 11, 2023
South Africa: What New STI Prevention Findings Mean for SA
Last year, Spotlight reported that taking a widely available antibiotic after condomless sex can reduce the risk of contracting three different sexually transmitted infections… Read more »
March 24, 2023
South Africa: Face to Face - Prof Muki Shey On His Journey From Cameroon to Doing Cutting-Edge TB Research
It was his own background including childhood sickness that inflamed Professor Muki Shey's passion for finding health solutions in resource-constrained settings. Read more »
March 13, 2023
South Africa: Community Care Model Improves Uptake of TB Preventive Therapy, Study Finds
The uptake and continuation of tuberculosis (TB) preventive therapy were much higher when it was provided through a community-based model compared to the standard clinic-based… Read more »
January 30, 2023
Africa: HIV Vaccine Research Set to Change Focus in Wake of Mosaico Disappointment
Hopes for the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Mosaico vaccine - the only HIV vaccine candidate in late-stage (Phase 3) clinical trials - were dashed with manufacturer Janssen… 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 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 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 »
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 »
October 10, 2022
South Africa: Interview - Prof Wendy Stevens On Following the Science, Even If It Means Swimming Against the Stream
When Wendy Stevens' mother succumbed to breast cancer in 2020, she left a series of letters to her four children that she had penned during her illness. Read more »
October 03, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - Use of Urine Test for TB Increasing
While tuberculosis (TB) is the top killer of people living with HIV, TB is also harder to diagnose in people living with HIV than in people who are not. What is more, TB is… Read more »
September 20, 2022
South Africa: From Cameroonian Village to Stellenbosch Professor - Top TB Researcher Reflects On a Remarkable Journey
In 2004, Novel Chegou left his home country, Cameroon, in search of a better life in South Africa. With high hopes and not much money, he sold African crafts - beads, masks, and… Read more »