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 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 15, 2022
South Africa: North West Health - the Hits and Misses of the Section 100 Intervention
It has been almost four years since the North West Department of Health was put under administration in 2018, but some healthcare users in North West say improvement in health… Read more »
June 07, 2022
South Africa: Intimate Partner Violence in SA - Is It Getting Worse and How Do We Tackle It?
According to a recently published Lancet Psychiatry report, intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public mental health issue that requires collective societal change to tackle it… Read more »
June 02, 2022
South Africa: NHI Bill - Clause-By-Clause Headbutting Begins in Parliament
In what is expected to become a verbal minefield littered with the usual ideological quips, the members of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health this week started the… Read more »
May 31, 2022
South Africa: Over 3 million People On New HIV Drug, but Not All Smooth Sailing
The introduction of the antiretroviral drug dolutegravir arguably represents the biggest advance in HIV treatment in the last decade. Dolutegravir is highly effective at… Read more »
May 30, 2022
South Africa: Lives Depend On SA Finding More Stem Cell Donors
Early in 2017, Unathi Mtengwane from Zeerust in the North West started experiencing severe fatigue. Initially, he thought it was just due to the daily pressures of life. Read more »
May 26, 2022
South Africa: Gauteng Health in Flames - Making It Through the Fires and Fumbles of SA's Richest Province
The below talk was delivered by Sasha Stevenson on 25 May 2022 as part of a lecture series hosted by the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at Wits University. Stevenson is the head… Read more »
May 25, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - How and Why Pain Management for Children Is Falling Short in SA
When healthcare experts from the public and private sectors were asked in a survey how effective they thought infant and children's pain are assessed where they work, 84% answered… Read more »
May 24, 2022
South Africa: Gauteng Health - Has a Damning Public Protector Report Had Any Impact?
After a visit to several hospitals in Gauteng in 2020, the Public Protector (PP) concluded that the Gauteng health department has failed to ensure appropriate conditions for the… Read more »
May 27, 2022
South Africa: Open Letter - Dear Minister Phaahla, the 'Medical Tourist Mom' Is Little More Than a Convenient Myth
Dear Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla, Read more »
May 18, 2022
Africa: Are Oral Swabs the Future of TB Testing?
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year 40% of people who fall ill with tuberculosis (TB) globally are not diagnosed. There is thus an urgent need for faster,… Read more »
May 13, 2022
South Africa: What the Law Says About Medical Xenophobia in South Africa
The South African Constitution says the most basic forms of healthcare should be made accessible to all who reside in South Africa. However, this is not the lived experience of so… Read more »
May 12, 2022
South Africa: Two Years Into the Covid Disaster, Where Do We Stand?
COVID began to hit South Africa badly in May 2020. Read more »
South Africa: Rural Patients Suffer Fallout of EMS Strike in Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape Department of Health was left with no choice but to rope in private ambulances as Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers in the Amathole and King William's Town… Read more »
May 11, 2022
South Africa: New Ambulances for Northern Cape, but Old Problems Remain
It was around 10:00 on 11 March 2022, when Masego Kolane (23) from Barkley West, about 35km outside Kimberly, says she called an ambulance. She was in labour. Kolane was 39 weeks… Read more »
February 19, 2021
South Africa: Face to Face with Gift of the Givers Founder Imtiaz Sooliman
Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman has declined renewed social media calls that he be nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. Read more »