South Africa: At the Heart of Rape Crisis Is a Group of 'Positive People', Says Former Director

Rape Crisis pioneered the first containment counselling service at Cape Town's inaugural Thuthuzela Care Centre, a model now adopted nationwide. Spotlight visited staff at the soon… Read more »

South Africa: New Research Challenges Thinking On the Places Where TB Is Transmitted

For centuries, it was believed that tuberculosis spread primarily when a vulnerable person spends hours in a poorly ventilated space with someone infectious. But new findings… Read more »

South Africa: Shut Doors, Unmet Needs - the Strain of Hospital Closures On Two North West Communities

People who live near Thusong District Hospital, which closed in 2022, and the Christiana District Hospital, which was destroyed by fire in 2021, told Spotlight they are frustrated… Read more »

South Africa: Three Common Myths About U.S. Funding Cuts to South Africa

There is no shortage of myths about the cancellation of US foreign assistance. This includes the widely held misconception that PEPFAR is exempt from US aid cuts and the belief… Read more »

South Africa: 8 Million People Living With HIV in South Africa, According to Latest Estimates

The number of people living with HIV in South Africa has for the first time reached the eight million mark. Of these, around 6.2 million are on treatment, according to new… Read more »

South Africa: #InsideTheBox With Dr Andy Gray - Who Can Prescribe Medicines in South Africa?

What medicines do you need prescriptions for and who is authorised to write those prescriptions is not a straight-forward matter. In his latest #InsideTheBox column, Dr Andy Gray… Read more »

South Africa: High Hopes for Major TB Vaccine Study Recently Launched in Paarl

The world desperately needs an effective TB vaccine to reduce the illness and death still being caused by the centuries' old bacterium. As we mark World TB Day, Spotlight visited a… Read more »

South Africa: Excitement Builds for Long-Acting TB Treatments, but Research Still At Early Stage

Both TB treatment and TB preventive therapy involve taking lots of pills, usually for several months. Researchers are working on new long-acting formulations that might, for… Read more »

South Africa: Commit, Invest, Deliver - What Should South Africa Do to End TB?

The TB Sustainable Development Goals of reducing incidence and deaths from TB are achievable, if we all work together. We must double down on this ambition and be even bolder in… Read more »

South Africa: Fears Grow for R800 Million Cut to US Funding of Medical Research in SA

Medical researchers in South Africa are in limbo as they wait to hear whether over R800 million in research grants from the United States National Institutes of Health will be… Read more »

Africa: A Jab That Could Protect Against HIV for a Year At a Time, and Other Highlights From Major Conference

A single shot of a new formulation of the antiretroviral drug lenacapavir could potentially provide protection against HIV infection for as long as a year. Spotlight reports on… Read more »

South Africa: What Does It Mean for Health? SAMRC Experts Weigh in On Budget 2025

While the 2025 national budget boosts health spending, researchers from the South African Medical Research Council stress the need for strong accountability measures. They also… Read more »

South Africa: 'We'll Come to You' - HIV Prevention Project Takes Services to Schools

Elzette Rousseau from the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation told attendees at the top HIV conference in the United States about a project taking HIV prevention services to schools in… Read more »

South Africa: How Much Does Our HIV Response Depend On U.S. Funding?

After the US slashed global aid, the South African government stated that only 17% of its HIV spending relied on US funding. But some experts argue that US health initiatives had… Read more »

Africa: U.S. Funding Cuts Imperil Search for HIV Vaccine

A groundbreaking project to study potential HIV vaccines in several African countries has been derailed by an abrupt cut in funding from the United States government. As a result,… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa Unveils Ambitious New HIV Campaign Amid Aid Crisis

Amid major disruptions caused by aid cuts from the United States government, the health department aims to enrol a record number - an additional 1.1 million - of people living with… Read more »

South Africa: Massive $200 Million TB Research Programme Derailed By U.S. Funding Cuts

Just over a month after US President Donald Trump implemented a 90-day freeze of all foreign assistance, the future looks very uncertain for tuberculosis research. Among others, a… Read more »

South Africa: Our HIV Response Will Collapse Without U.S. Funding - Unless We Act Urgently

South Africa faces its worst health crisis in 20 years. Worse than COVID, and one that will overshadow diabetes as a major killer, while pouring petrol on a dwindling TB fire. But… Read more »

South Africa: USAID Funding Cuts End Vital HIV Programme for Orphans

South Africa's public health system is in turmoil after the widespread cancellation of USAID funding agreements. Among others, a USAID-funded project that helped to keep orphaned… Read more »

South Africa: Research Hub Aims to Decode Health Challenges Facing 'People of the Dew'

A new health research hub brings hope of improving health services in the Rustenburg Valley in the North West Province. Spotlight finds out more about how the Bafokeng Health and… Read more »

Africa: It Is a Time for Solutions, Says Prof Tulio De Oliveira in Face of U.S. Funding Cuts

Cuts to United States spending on aid and medical research have caused widespread havoc and anxiety in the last month. Professor Tulio de Oliveira sat down with Spotlight's… Read more »

Africa: U.S. Funding Remains Frozen for Many Life-Saving Services

Despite a waiver on life-saving humanitarian aid, USAID funding for crucial medical services remains frozen. Services remain closed as organisations await approval of revised… Read more »

South Africa: ANC and Its Ministers Reject Reports of NHI 'Concessions'

Recent media reports over the future of NHI have been contradictory and hard to make sense of. Spotlight chased up those in a position to know where things stand - it seems the ANC… Read more »

South Africa: Over 15,000 South African Health Workers' Jobs Are At Risk As U.S. Cuts Aid

A coalition of health service organisations has warned that patients will lose access to life-saving treatment if the US withdraws health funding to South Africa. Certain HIV and… Read more »

South Africa: SA Health Research Facing Catastrophic Financing Cuts

Cuts to United States funding of health research could have "catastrophic" consequences, says Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, who is at the helm of the country's primary health research… Read more »