South Africa: Women in SA Could Have Access to a Three-Monthly HIV Prevention Ring By 2026

A flexible silicone ring that slowly releases antiretrovirals is one of just two long-acting HIV prevention products registered for use in South Africa. Results from a new study… Read more »

South Africa: Why Including Pregnant Women in a TB Study in SA Was a Big Deal

Pregnant women are typically excluded from clinical trials of new TB medicines. This has led to a lack of solid scientific evidence on how best to treat women who fall ill with TB… Read more »

South Africa: How to Save More Mothers From Dying During Childbirth

COVID-19 temporarily reversed South Africa's hard-won reduction in maternal mortality, but the death rate has now stabilised, and hopes are high that the downward trend will… Read more »

South Africa: Access to Contraception and Mental Healthcare Services Are Critical to Empowering Women in Rural Areas

The lack of access to essential healthcare services in rural areas worsens the challenges women face, particularly when it comes to early pregnancy and gender-based violence.… Read more »

South Africa: Why Affirming Treatment for Gender Questioning Youth Matters in South Africa

Gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth has sparked intense debate globally. In South Africa, we need to significantly improve accessibility throughout the country,… Read more »

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 »

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 »

Africa: Women in Health - Vaccine Safety Prof On Her Passion for Making a Difference

Professor Johanna Catharina Meyer, a pharmacist turned academic and then vaccine expert and advocate, lives her life with many mottos - her main one being - "life is an echo, what… Read more »

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 »

South Africa: Mental Health Needs of GBV Survivors Are Not Being Met - What to Do?

A year or so ago, a young woman arrived at the St Anne's Homes Women's Shelter in Woodstock, Cape Town, so traumatised after a brutal sexual assault that she wept, alone, in her… Read more »

South Africa: We Are Short-Changing Women With Budget Cuts, Corruption, and Underspending in Health

It is often said that when you educate a girl; you educate a nation. The same rings true for investing in women's health, which ultimately benefits our entire country. The World… Read more »

South Africa: Sr Wattie - the Midwife From District Six Who Heeded the Call to Nurse and Deliver

For decades, most stories from Cape Town's District Six started with - "I was born at Peninsula Maternity Hospital!" The Peninsula Maternity Hospital was established in 1921 as a… Read more »

South Africa: Women in Health - 'No One Taught Me How to Treat a Sick System,' Says Leading Young Professor

In high school, a guidance councillor told Salome Maswime that she would never be accepted at medical school. Undeterred, in 2001, Maswime successfully enrolled for an MBChB… Read more »

South Africa: Centres for Gender Based Violence Support Working Well - Experts Say We Need More of Them

It's a rare sunny winter morning on the Cape Flats. We are standing inside a small building on the premises of the Heideveld Community Health Centre. This is a Thuthuzela Care… Read more »

South Africa: Part of Child Protection Is Allowing Children to Be Themselves When It Comes to Gender

South Africa is observing Child Protection Week from 29 May to 5 June to shine a spotlight on the rights of children as enshrined in the Constitution and the Children's Act. The… Read more »

South Africa: Face to Face - Prof Naeemah Abrahams On Breaking Feminist Stereotypes and 'Fighting Through Research and Analyses'

Professor Naeemah Abrahams attended lectures for her Master's degree in Public Health at the University of the Western Cape with a 10-day-old baby on her lap. It was 1996 and… Read more »

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 »

South Africa: In-Depth - the State of SA's HPV Vaccination Programme in 2023

"I was overwhelmed and in complete shock. I never expected what was pretty much a cancer scare in my twenties," says Johannesburg-based Rachel, who was 28 years old when she… Read more »

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 »

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 »