Africa: HIV Vaccine Research Set to Change Focus in Wake of Mosaico Disappointment

Hopes for the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Mosaico vaccine - the only HIV vaccine candidate in late-stage (Phase 3) clinical trials - were dashed with manufacturer Janssen… Read more »

South Africa: Changing the Law On Sex Work Will Save Lives, We Must See It Through

In December 2022, the Minister of Justice, Ronald Lamola, set into motion a public participation process on the laws that govern sex work in South Africa. Cabinet approved the… Read more »

South Africa: As With Covid-19, the Effects of TB Can Linger Long After It Is Cured

According to the World Health Organization, of the roughly 10 million people who fall ill with TB annually, over 80% survive, in most cases due to a six-month treatment course.… Read more »

South Africa: This Is Why Mpumalanga Is Repurposing Some TB Hospitals

The Mpumalanga Health Department plans to repurpose three of its five tuberculosis (TB) hospitals due to dwindling numbers of in-patients at these hospitals. Read more »

South Africa: In-Depth - As Schools Open, Will Measles Outbreaks Get Worse?

In October last year, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) alerted the public to a measles outbreak in Limpopo. Since then, four more provinces have reported… Read more »

South Africa: Health in 2023 - 13 Things to Look Out For

Set against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 recovery, the National Health Insurance Bill winding its way through Parliament, healthcare worker shortages, and the ongoing… Read more »

South Africa: 2022's Health Budget Decisions in Review

Health budgets have the power to advance access to healthcare for millions of people in South Africa. This year, however, as the health sector and the economy recovered from the… Read more »

South Africa: Living With a Stoma in SA - We Deserve Better

In May 2016, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I was lucky. Detecting the cancer early meant that I required no chemo or radiation therapy and just had surgery, which left me… Read more »

South Africa: SA to Receive Donation of New Child-Friendly DR-TB Medicines

South Africa's National Department of Health is set to receive a donation of child-friendly formulations of several medicines used to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). It… Read more »

South Africa: Spotlight On Health - 2022 in Under 1 000 Words

2022 is maybe most notable for what didn't happen. While SARS-CoV-2 continued to mutate rapidly, we did not see another devastating wave of COVID-19 deaths as some feared we might.… Read more »

South Africa: Pilot Programme Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Children in Khayelitsha

Earlier this year, the annual South African Child Gauge indicated that child and adolescent mental health services in South Africa are in crisis - mostly due to inadequate… Read more »

South Africa: How Well Did Sahpra Do in 2022?

Following the emergence of COVID-19 and the regular mention of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) in the news - mostly in relation to what health… Read more »

South Africa: In-Depth - 'Access Not Excess' Key to Reducing Antibiotic Resistance in SA

Antibiotics play a vital role in the management of bacterial infections, reducing morbidity, and preventing mortality. A 2011 report from the United Kingdom estimated that they… Read more »

South Africa: An Open Letter to Us Girls Who Still Shoulder Much of the HIV Burden in South Africa

Dear Adolescent girl, Read more »

South Africa: In-Depth - the State of Asthma in SA

Asthma is a disease that can easily be controlled through the correct use of medications, yet in many low-and-middle-income countries like South Africa, many still die due to lack… Read more »

South Africa: Testing Stool Can Help Detect TB in Children

Most tuberculosis (TB) testing today relies on sputum samples coughed up from the lungs. This makes intuitive sense since pulmonary (or lung) TB is the most common form of TB and… Read more »

South Africa: Experts Call for Better Screening and Treatment of TB During Pregnancy

Busisiwe Beko, from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, was diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) while she was pregnant. She remembers it as a very difficult period in… Read more »

South Africa: Some in Free State Only Given ARVs for Two Weeks At a Time

Both health minister Dr Joe Phaahla and health authorities in the Free State last week denied claims from activists that there are shortages of antiretroviral medicines at health… Read more »

South Africa: World Aids Day 2022 - Choice, Convenience, and Respect Should Be the Cornerstone of SA's HIV Response

In Spotlight's analysis of South Africa's HIV response in recent years, two issues have stood out consistently. Read more »

South Africa: Keep an Eye On Quality As We Rush to Test People for HIV

As we approach World AIDS Day on 1 December, healthcare providers will be offering HIV screening and testing as part of a comprehensive health service. Read more »

South Africa: New Resistance Tests Set to Improve TB Treatment

Some strains of the tuberculosis (TB) bacterium have mutated to become resistant to some of the drugs commonly used to treat TB. Accordingly, one of the first questions to ask when… Read more »

South Africa: Kwazulu-Natal Doing Well Compared to Other Provinces but Some Health Services Still a Challenge

KwaZulu-Natal clinics are outperforming facilities monitored in other provinces on various indicators and health services in the province have improved year-on-year, but some… Read more »

South Africa: Pilot Projects Set to Inform Rollout of HIV Prevention Shot

South Africa is expected to begin piloting the HIV prevention injection early next year as one of several projects that experts hope will reveal the answers to some of the biggest… 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 »

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 »