September 06, 2022
South Africa: Reflections On TAC's Future As New Leadership Elected
A New Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) leadership team was elected at the organisation's 7th National Congress recently held in Benoni in Gauteng. The congress was attended by 174… 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 »
September 07, 2022
South Africa: We're Facing the Cold Without Blankets in Hospitals - Free State Patients
In July this year temperatures in some parts of the Free State dropped as low as minus 8 degrees Celsius while in some hospitals, patients were told to bring their own blankets or… Read more »
September 02, 2022
South Africa: Being a Midwife Is a Calling, Says Founder of Black Women Arise
Being a midwife is not a career for her, says Sebabatso Tsosane - it's a calling. She says she was born into this world "to serve other women". Read more »
September 01, 2022
South Africa: Petro Terblanche - the Farm Girl From Brits Who Steered Africa's First MRNA Vaccine
It was a warm, sunny day in January when Professor Petro Terblanche was sitting in her Afrigen office in Montague Gardens, Cape Town, when she got a visit from the head of her… Read more »
August 31, 2022
South Africa: 'Everything Ends Up in the Health System,' Says Psychiatrist Lesley Robertson
When life's brokenness can't be easily put back together again, parts of it sink and drift into a murky swirl that sometimes ends up colliding with Lesley Robertson's professional… Read more »
August 29, 2022
South Africa: Dr Angela Hartwig - a Torchbearer for Rural Health
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Angela Hartwig was the only doctor at Adelaide Provincial Hospital, which offers 60 beds to a catchment area of 13 000 people in the sheep… Read more »
August 26, 2022
South Africa: Towards Women-Centred Climate Change Decision-Making and Budgeting #AfricaClimateCrisis
The devastating impacts of ongoing climate change are already being felt in South Africa, with some researchers describing the region as a climate change hotspot. President Cyril… Read more »
August 24, 2022
South Africa: Women in Health - From Test Tubes to Impacting Lives - Dr Thesla Palanee-Phillips On Making a Difference With Science
"It's really, really rewarding to know that burning the candle at both ends - the hard days in the clinic, late nights, and taking calls - traveling throughout the African… Read more »
August 23, 2022
South Africa: What Is Behind the Western Cape's Low Prep Numbers?
It is estimated that in 2021, only around 0.3% of sexually active people in the Western Cape were taking antiretroviral medicines to prevent HIV infection. When taken as… Read more »
August 22, 2022
South Africa: Women in Health - Mary Selona Is Changing 'The Way Things Are' - One Woman At a Time
Mary Selona is only half-joking when she says her favourite down-time activity as a strictly "indoorsy person" is catching up on sleep. The community activist who heads up the… Read more »
August 25, 2022
South Africa: The Latest On Long-Acting HIV Prevention and Treatment
Advances in long-acting formulations of antiretroviral medicines were one of the most exciting areas of HIV research showcased at the recent AIDS 2022 conference held in Montreal,… 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 »
August 17, 2022
South Africa: Francesca Conradie - From HIV to Groundbreaking TB Research
Francesca Conradie knew she wanted to be a doctor when she was eight years old. Well, that, or a truck driver. Read more »
August 16, 2022
South Africa: Covid-19 - Benefits of Vaccines Still Far Outweigh Risks, Experts Say
The benefits of vaccines still far outweigh the risks, experts say following the recently reported death linked to a COVID-19 vaccine. Read more »
August 15, 2022
South Africa: Women in Health - How Daphney Conco Dreamed of Wearing a Graduation Gown and Did It
"If I were to ask you, where one can get an abortion, would you know? Would you be able to point a person to a facility that provides abortion from the top of your head?" asks Dr… Read more »
August 12, 2022
South Africa: The Health Sector Can Help Address the Impact of Violence Against Women, Here's How
At the start of Women's month this year, the gang rape of eight women at a mine dump in Krugersdorp made headlines in South Africa and abroad, adding to the country's… Read more »
August 08, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - What Are Fuelling Concerns Over Nurse Training in South Africa?
As previously reported by Spotlight, South Africa's nursing workforce is ageing and existing nurse shortages may well get worse rather than better in the coming years. Read more »
August 11, 2022
South Africa: AIDS 2022 - What Does an Important STI Prevention Finding Mean for SA?
Taking a widely available antibiotic after condomless sex can reduce the risk of contracting three different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to a study presented… Read more »
August 10, 2022
South Africa: Women in Health - 'I Don't Like Seeing Anybody Treated Unfairly' - New Leader of HIV Clinicians Society
Describing her new job as CEO of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, Juliet Houghton quotes the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu saying - "There is only one way to eat an… Read more »
August 04, 2022
South Africa: Clinics Hit Hard By Water Shortages in Nelson Mandela Bay
The Nelson Mandela Bay metro in the Eastern Cape is in the grips of a severe drought after seven consecutive poor rainy seasons. Some of the metro's 48 clinics and three referral… Read more »
August 05, 2022
South Africa: Engaging Communities and Young People in the HIV Response
The AIDS2022 conference held recently in Montreal, Canada highlighted yet again the need for community activism and the importance of the involvement of young people. While these… Read more »
August 02, 2022
South Africa: 'It Took Me Three Seconds to Decide' - Fareed Abdullah Reflects On His Career in Public Health
Over the last three decades, Dr Fareed Abdullah has been at the coalface of South Africa's response to HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and more recently, COVID-19. In this time, he proved… Read more »
August 01, 2022
South Africa: Analysis - What Will a New Turnaround Plan Mean for Kimberley Hospital?
Over the years the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley - the Northern Cape's only tertiary hospital - has often made headlines for the wrong reasons. Read more »
July 29, 2022
South Africa: Experts Welcome New HIV Treatments for Children
In a move widely welcomed by local experts, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) recently approved new child-friendly formulations of several important… Read more »