South Africa: Is Government Ready to Invest in Mental Health?

Commemorating World Mental Health Day on 25 October, Acting Director-General in the National Department of Health Dr Nicholas Crisp during a webinar hosted by the department used… Read more »

South Africa: Report Raises Concern Over Child Nutrition in Rural Eastern Cape

A recent study in Mqanduli and surrounding areas in the Eastern Cape found that children's healthy growth and development is not only undermined by their inability to access… Read more »

South Africa: Staff Shortages and Long Waiting Times Plague KZN Health, Report Finds

While KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is doing comparatively well on key HIV indicators, the public healthcare system in the province is plagued by staff shortages, long waiting times, poor… Read more »

South Africa: Analysis - Eastern Cape Needs Mental Health Services, Gets Mostly Empty Promises

In recent years, there have been various reports with damning findings on the state of mental healthcare services in the Eastern Cape. But what has actually changed after… Read more »

South Africa: Reflections On a Budget of 'Unmet Expectations'

In the week leading up to the tabling of the medium-term budget policy statement, expectations were high that addressing the impact of poverty and inequality would feature… Read more »

South Africa: Family Focus Shows Promise for TB Prevention

Tucked away outside Cape Town, Khayelitsha is a township that is home to about half a million people. Many families in the area share small corrugated zinc houses with limited… Read more »

South Africa: Experts Urge Registration of New Child-Friendly ARV Formulation

Children living with HIV have to take multiple different antiretroviral (ARV) pills or syrups twice a day, while most adults in South Africa have been offered one pill once a day… Read more »

South Africa: Dirty Laundry At Eastern Cape Hospitals and the Plan to Deal With It

When Thembisile Nogampula was admitted as a patient at Livingstone Hospital on 24 March this year, he says he was allocated a bed but no sheets and pillows. There were other… Read more »

South Africa: Five Developments in Paediatric Tuberculosis

The screening, diagnosis, and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) in children remain far from optimal - and in many respects lag behind what can be done for adults. Read more »

South Africa: Unpacking the Link Between HIV and Mental Health

Mother of three Monica Jam-Jam (43) from Soweto has been living with HIV for 22 years. She says living with HIV is a rollercoaster because sometimes you feel motivated to take the… Read more »

South Africa: Two Years Later, Kimberley Mental Health Hospital Still Not At Capacity

This month it is two years since Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul opened the multimillion-rand Kimberley Mental Health Hospital, calling it a 'monument of corruption'. By then,… Read more »

South Africa: Fingerstick Blood Test Shows Promise for TB Screening

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over four million of the almost ten million people who fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) in 2020 were not diagnosed. One obstacle… Read more »

South Africa: In-Depth - Millions Spent On Security At Gauteng Health Facilities but Concerns Remain

The Gauteng Department of Health annually spends millions on security at its health facilities based on contracts that expired in 2016 and that since have been extended from month… Read more »

South Africa: In-Depth - How Are Depression and Bipolar Disorder Treated in the Public Sector?

It is estimated that "one in ten adults living in South Africa will have experienced major clinical depression at some point in their life but only 25% have sought treatment and… Read more »

South Africa: Life Esidimeni Inquest - Journal of a Grieving Sister

The Life Esidimeni Inquest that started in July has been postponed until 15 November. This is the fifth postponement, meaning another agonising wait for family members of the… Read more »

South Africa: Quality Tuberculosis Care Starts With People

The world is seeing tuberculosis (TB) deaths increase for the first time in over a decade, according to the World Health Organization's Global TB Report 2021. In 2020, 1.5 million… Read more »

South Africa: WHO Numbers Underscore Urgent Need for Stronger Leadership and Ambitious TB Recovery Plan

For the first time in over a decade, tuberculosis (TB) deaths have increased globally. This is according to the World Health Organization's Global TB Report 2021 released last… Read more »

South Africa: What Public Sector Mental Health Services Look Like in the Free State

*Pulane, a 36-year-old mother living with HIV from Thabong in Welkom in the Free State, is among the many millions of people in South Africa who rely on public healthcare services.… Read more »

South Africa: In-Depth - Does SA Have a Diabetes Testing Problem?

It is difficult to get an accurate estimate of how many people in South Africa are living with diabetes, according to Professor Naomi (Dinky) Levitt, Director of the Chronic… Read more »

South Africa: In-Depth - Landmark Moment As Ai Beats Humans in Reading X-Rays for TB

In 1997, the then reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost a six-game series to a chess-playing computer programme called Deep Blue. Deep Blue's victory was seen as… Read more »

South Africa: Mental Health - Grief, Loss - We Are All Traumatised, Says Psychiatrist On the Covid-19 Frontlines

In her bright white office, Psychiatry Professor Jackie Hoare leans against a faux fur blanket on her sofa as she reflects on grief in a time of COVID-19. Read more »

South Africa: Covid-19 - What Tests Are Available in SA and Which Ones to Use?

The different types of COVID-19 tests are far from equal. Picking a test is generally a matter of speed versus accuracy and, most importantly, why you need a test and when. Read more »

Africa: Climate Emergency Risks Becoming a Mental Health Emergency

As part of the #CancelCoal campaign demanding that government bins its plans for new coal-fired power plants, the Centre for Environmental Rights commissioned a report on the… Read more »

Africa: The Over-Criminalisation of HIV Transmission Does More Harm Than Good

It is a well-known fact that the prevalence of HIV in South Africa is among the highest in the world. A lesser-known fact is that people living with HIV can be charged with… Read more »

South Africa: Life Esidimeni Inquest - a Recap On Its Progress and What to Expect

The Judicial Inquest into the deaths of mental healthcare users during the Life Esidimeni tragedy of 2016, began on 19 July 2021. After several false starts and procedural delays,… Read more »