South Africa: Consolidate the Funding of South Africa's District Health System - Why Reform Can't Wait

District managers in South Africa's public healthcare system currently have to juggle funding from multiple government budget lines, each with different strings attached. To… Read more »

South Africa: Spotlight Launches New TB Dashboard

Spotlight has unveiled a new tuberculosis (TB) dashboard and graph generator. We hope this dashboard will help people get a clearer picture of the state of South Africa's TB… Read more »

South Africa: How Medicines Pricing Works in South Africa and How It Might Change in Future

In South Africa, as in many places, pharmaceutical companies are not free to change medicine prices as they wish. In his latest Inside The Box column, Dr Andy Gray unpacks how… Read more »

South Africa: The Professor Who Wouldn't Look Away - Leslie London On Poison, the 'Dop System', and Genocide

From academic corridors to ministerial meetings and rural reaches, Leslie London has never shied away from speaking truth to power. Spotlight speaks to the Emeritus Professor at… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa Has a 'Bogus Doctor' Problem

Bogus medical practitioners threaten the health of patients and undermine trust in doctors. The problem might be growing, but so is the fight against it. Read more »

South Africa: 'There Are Good People Out There Who Want to Do Good Things' - How Healthcare Services Are Being Taken to Rural Western Cape Farms

The health department in the Western Cape is partnering with farms in the Cape Winelands to provide easier access to healthcare for farm workers. Spotlight unpacks one such… Read more »

South Africa: Blockbuster Weight-Loss and Diabetes Medicines Sales Surge Despite Cost Barriers

Sales of weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro have sky-rocketed in South Africa in recent years, although they remain too expensive for most people who might benefit… Read more »

Africa: Spotlight's Top 9 Health Stories to Watch in 2026

From the limited rollout of a new HIV prevention jab to developments with new weight loss medicines, to high-stakes court cases relating to National Health Insurance (NHI), 2026 is… Read more »

South Africa: Clinic Blockades - It Is the State's Obligation to Remove Every Barrier to Health Services

Vigilantes have unlawfully prevented people they deemed to be foreign nationals from accessing public healthcare services. SECTION27 health activists map out the implications of a… Read more »

South Africa: SA Has an Oral Health Crisis, New Hpcsa Oversight Boards Need to Step Up Urgently

The new board members for the Health Professions Council of South Africa have an opportunity to tackle the growing oral disease crisis by dealing with regulatory gaps and inequity,… Read more »

South Africa: If Covid-19, Why Not TB? Mr President, It's Time for a Family Chat

South Africa had several "family chats" in which President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He should do the same for tuberculosis,… Read more »

South Africa: Health in 2025 - the Year in Fewer Than 1,000 Words

The year's biggest health story by far has been the cuts to US aid for health and US support for health research. But it's also been a year of important HIV prevention… Read more »

South Africa: Patients Left Vulnerable As Diabetes Supplies Dwindle

Getting to grips with rising diabetes rates is arguably one of the most urgent tasks for South Africa's public healthcare system, but the setbacks keep coming. While some… Read more »

South Africa: #InsideTheBox With Dr Andy Gray - Where Are We On the Road to More Coherent Cannabis Regulation?

There has been much confusion and misunderstandings about how cannabis and associated products are regulated in South Africa, with government's own missteps adding to the… Read more »

South Africa: Six Striking Findings From Major TB Conference

From studies of new medicines and a mask used to diagnose TB, there was no shortage of interesting findings presented at the recent Union World Conference on Lung Health, held in… Read more »

South Africa: Salim Abdool Karim | Transforming Adversity Into Opportunity for the Aids Response

As World AIDS Day 2025 swings by, CAPRISA Director Professor Salim Abdool Karim reflects on the frantic days following this year's unprecedented cuts to health aid and research… Read more »

Africa: Timeline | the Journey of HIV Through Science, Struggle, Activism, and Hope

From the first reported cases of HIV in 1981 to the latest breakthroughs in long-acting prevention, this Spotlight timeline traces key moments in the global and South African… Read more »

South Africa: #inthespotlight | Why Government Should Provide More Free HIV Self-Tests

It is estimated that around half a million people living with HIV in South Africa don't know they are living with the virus. One way to help these people is by offering them the… Read more »

South Africa: 'What's the Point of Top Tech Sitting in Labs?' UCT's Yumna Albertus Is On a Mission to Turn Science Into Social Impact

What started as a childhood fascination with science and sport has grown into a mission to "democratise" technology with innovative, affordable rehabilitation solutions for people… Read more »

South Africa: What Has Actually Happened On NHI This Year?

It is not a stretch to say that the NHI Act has been one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in post-apartheid South Africa. Read more »

South Africa: Integrating Health Services for Mom and Baby Could Reduce Clinic Visits By Half

In South Africa, many mothers and their babies have to visit the clinic more than 10 times in the first six months of the postnatal period. Early findings from an ongoing… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa Has Relatively High Anal Cancer Rates, but We Rarely Screen for It

South Africa has the world's largest population of people living with HIV, which both heightens the risk of anal cancers and their severity. However, neither the collection of data… Read more »

South Africa: Spotlight Launches New HIV Dashboard

Spotlight has launched a new HIV dashboard and graph generator based on outputs from the Thembisa model. Our hope is that this dashboard will help the public and people working in… Read more »

South Africa: After a Damning Report, Health Dept Says Issues At Mafikeng Provincial Hospital Are Being Addressed

Mafikeng Provincial Hospital, a critical public healthcare facility in the North West, is facing a slew of challenges from broken and faulty medical equipment, long waiting times… Read more »

South Africa: 54,000 TB Deaths in South Africa in 2024, According to WHO

Around 54 000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2024 and 249 000 fell ill with the disease, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO). Read more »