November 18, 2022
South Africa: Mental Health Screening for People With TB Will Change Lives and Boost SA's TB Response
After two years of COVID-19 and disruption of normal healthcare services such as those for tuberculosis (TB), welcome-back initiatives were started across provinces to get people… Read more »
November 17, 2022
South Africa: Still Many Unknowns, but Long-Covid Is Real and Deserves Support for Rehabilitation, Says Expert
"I think I'm in trouble," came the message through to Professor Veronica Ueckermann one evening during the first surge of COVID-19 in South Africa in the winter of 2020. It was a… Read more »
November 16, 2022
South Africa: Decaying Infrastructure At Tambo Hospital Still Putting Patients and Health Workers At Risk
In 2017 an assessment commissioned by Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg in Gauteng reportedly found that the hospital building was "unfit for human habitation" and was considered… Read more »
November 15, 2022
Africa: TB Treatment Can Be Cut to Two Months for Some, Finds Landmark Study
Some cases of tuberculosis (TB) can be successfully treated in as little as two months - a third of the current standard of six months in South Africa and most other countries.… Read more »
November 14, 2022
South Africa: Face to Face - 'Everything About Health Is About Behaviour', Says Professor Mosa Moshabela
Speaking on Zoom from New York City, Professor Mosa Moshabela quietly notes the junctures and dilemmas that shaped his journey from a Limpopo village to the global health stage. Read more »
November 11, 2022
South Africa: How Can We Make Surgical Care Accessible By Drawing On Lessons From the Aids Movement?
One out of every three people in South Africa will need surgical care during their lifetime. Surgical care is essential to achieving health and well-being, but access to it is… Read more »
November 10, 2022
South Africa: Breathing Easier - How Madwaleni Hospital Started Producing Its Own Oxygen
As the strain on the Eastern Cape's oxygen supply increased during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities often had to intervene and use their own trucks… Read more »
November 09, 2022
South Africa: South Africa Expected to Begin Piloting HIV Prevention Shot in Early 2023
South Africa is expected to begin piloting the every-other-month HIV prevention shot early next year, according to the international medicine financing initiative Unitaid. New… Read more »
November 08, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - Major SAMRC Study Sheds Light On Causes of Disease and Death in SA
Unsafe sex, interpersonal violence, high body mass index (BMI), high systolic blood pressure, and alcohol consumption are the top risk factors for disease and death in South… Read more »
November 04, 2022
South Africa: Construction and Maintenance Delays Plague 'Ideal Hospital' in Kroonstad
Delayed construction work, poor maintenance, water shortages, and surgical backlogs are some of the problems patients and healthcare workers face at Boitumelo Regional Hospital in… Read more »
November 02, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - Good Sexual and Reproductive Health Services On Paper, but Implementation Gaps Remain
There has been a gradual increase in the number of adolescents visiting healthcare facilities in South Africa and in the number of adolescents giving birth in healthcare facilities… Read more »
November 01, 2022
South Africa: Faces of Health - 'Sr Fikx' - the Nurse Activist Unafraid to Speak Out Against Corruption
Fiery nurse activist Fikile Dikolomela-Lengene says she has had a front-row seat to corruption unfolding in Gauteng's public health sector, and she is not afraid to speak out. Read more »
October 28, 2022
South Africa: 56,000 TB Deaths in SA in 2021, Estimates WHO
In 2021 an estimated 304 000 people in South Africa fell ill with tuberculosis and 56 000 died from the disease, according to new World Health Organization (WHO) figures released… Read more »
October 27, 2022
South Africa: Opinion - Mid-Term Budget Fails to Show the Way to a More Resilient Recovery
The Medium-term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) was tabled at a time of increased uncertainty and volatility characterised by rising global interest rates, downward revisions to… Read more »
October 26, 2022
South Africa: Making Access to Surgical Care a Reality in District Hospitals
By September this year, public hospitals in the country were buckling under backlogs of over 175 000 surgeries. Spotlight earlier this year published a two-part series on the human… Read more »
October 24, 2022
South Africa: In the Hot Seat - New Gauteng Health MEC Responds to 10 Questions From Spotlight
On 7 October, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi appointed Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko to the position of MEC for Health in the province. Nkomo-Ralehoko replaced Nomathemba Mokgethi, who… Read more »
October 21, 2022
South Africa: Digital X-Rays Boosting TB Diagnosis, Assessment Finds
TB diagnosis usually starts with asking someone whether they have any of the classic symptoms of TB (coughing, fever, loss of weight, and drenching night sweats in adults).… Read more »
October 20, 2022
South Africa: Staff Attitudes At Eastern Cape Clinics Still a Problem, Report Finds
The family of the late Zenizole Vena who died last month in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape blames the staff at Motherwell NU11 Clinic for the suffering their daughter endured in the… Read more »
October 19, 2022
South Africa: Cancer Surgeon Resigns and Volunteers Withdraw From Helen Joseph Hospital
The resignation of renowned breast cancer specialist surgeon Professor Carol-Ann Benn from the Helen Joseph Hospital has fuelled concerns about the loss of expertise for the public… Read more »
October 18, 2022
South Africa: Can Health Be Fixed Without Fixing Politics?
In a recent article published on Daily Maverick, Mark Heywood remembers a moment of hope when activists, healthcare workers, and others came together in 2013 to find solutions to… Read more »
October 14, 2022
South Africa: Patients Bear Brunt of Worsening Conditions At Some Free State Clinics, Report Shows
"Today we were lucky they did not send us back home," says Makhothatso Mohomaile (63) outside the Bloemspruit Clinic in Mangaung where she is waiting on transport with her brother… Read more »
October 13, 2022
South Africa: Mixed Reactions to Health Department's Plans to Mitigate Loadshedding
Health minister Dr Joe Phaahla last week announced several measures to mitigate the impact of loadshedding on healthcare services - a move that was met with mixed responses. Some… Read more »
October 12, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - the Complex Relationship Between TB and Mental Health
Falling ill with tuberculosis (TB) and all the disruption and stress that goes along with it can take a toll on someone's mental health, and mental health problems can in turn make… Read more »
October 11, 2022
South Africa: In-Depth - Healthcare in Mpumalanga Hamstrung By Ambulance Shortages and Other Problems
Despite some interventions by Mpumalanga's health department, a litany of challenges at hospitals in the province continue to hamstrung quality patient care in the province.… Read more »
October 10, 2022
South Africa: Interview - Prof Wendy Stevens On Following the Science, Even If It Means Swimming Against the Stream
When Wendy Stevens' mother succumbed to breast cancer in 2020, she left a series of letters to her four children that she had penned during her illness. Read more »