South Africa: #inthespotlight | Beyond the Hype, What Might AI Actually Mean for Healthcare in South Africa?

With varying degrees of success, artificial intelligence has begun to play the role of research assistant, radiologist, health educator, and even therapist. In this Spotlight… Read more »

South Africa: Competition Law Has Again Worked to Fight a Bad Drug Patent, but We Need Other Solutions

A Competition Commission probe recently resulted in a patent on an important tuberculosis medicine being dropped in South Africa. Twenty years ago, a similar Competition Commission… Read more »

South Africa: Sister Leonie Weyers Is Injecting Smiles in a Setting Where Many Spirits Are Hurt

The only full-time nurse at the Saartjie Baartman Centre, Sister Leonie Weyers, is not only a caregiver to her patients but also helps them to "feel beautiful" again. Biénne… Read more »

South Africa: Snake Antivenom Mired By Shortages and Side-Effects - Could a New Treatment Boost Our Options?

In recent years, shortages of snake antivenom have plagued South Africa and much of the globe. Even when antivenom is available, potentially serious side effects often limit its… Read more »

South Africa: Dr Nikki Allorto Is One of the Only Surgeons in KZN Doing Skin Grafting - and She Does Powerlifting to Keep Her Heart Strong

Burn injury has been described as the forgotten global public health crisis. Dr Nikki Allorto says that while it may be a neglected issue in South Africa, she is making sure her… Read more »

South Africa: Vivacious Sister Sandra Bryant Has a Disco Ball in Her Lilac Clinic in Cape Town

Sister Sandra Bryant runs her clinic in a lilac painted room, where glitter cream and a disco ball does not seem out of place next to scissors, syringes, and needles. She tells… Read more »

South Africa: #inthespotlight | Poorly Controlled Diabetes Is a Top Killer, Time to Take It More Seriously

The South African government has adopted a national target to bring the blood sugar levels of people with diabetes under control. But beyond the target, the country's response to… Read more »

South Africa: Eye Health Services in the Public Sector Are Critically Impaired - It Is High Time the Health Department Responds

Despite South Africa producing a substantial number of trained optometrists, the majority of them work in the private sector and in urban areas. This imbalance leaves rural… Read more »

South Africa: New Western Cape Health MEC Mireille Wenger Says Child Health Is Near Her Heart

Mireille Wenger was recently appointed to the Western Cape's top health job. Biénne Huisman chatted to Wenger about health policy, child health, and the challenge of… Read more »

South Africa: Why We Don't Have Long-Acting HIV Treatment in South Africa

In South Africa, HIV treatment means taking one or more antiretroviral tablets a day. People in some other countries have the additional option of treatment in the form of two… Read more »

South Africa: Meet the Movie Buff and Scientist Fighting to Keep Rural Healthcare From Falling Through the Cracks

Working with women in Giyani in Limpopo sparked the flame for Professor Kathy Kahn to dedicate her research career to the rural community she says she is "bonded to". She tells… Read more »

South Africa: Fight Not Yet Over As Case Against Vertex Is Dropped After Cutting Cystic Fibrosis Medicine Price

Last year a South African woman took a multibillion-dollar United States pharmaceutical company to court with the aim of securing access to life-changing cystic fibrosis medicines.… Read more »

South Africa: Behind the Life Esidimeni Headlines Is the Suffering of Human Beings Who Deserved Better

While we focus here on the nine deaths that Judge Mmonoa Teffo found to be unnatural, there were 144 deaths associated with the Life Esidimeni tragedy. Ultimately, these were human… Read more »

South Africa: Face to Face - Healthcare Veteran Kgosi Letlape On Leaving the ANC, Serving in Parliament, and the Tragic Loss of His Daughter

Former ANC member, now with ActionSA, Dr Kgosi Letlape was recently elected to parliament's health committee. Biénne Huisman spoke to the past president of the Health… Read more »

Africa: Aids 2024 - Exciting Developments With the Jabs Promising to Revolutionise HIV Prevention

Taking antiretrovirals to prevent HIV infection mostly still involves swallowing one or more pills a day. Some long-acting products that work for a month or two at a time have been… Read more »

South Africa: Childhood Vaccine Coverage in South Africa Declined in 2023 - WHO Report

New data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF show that globally childhood immunisation coverage stalled in 2023, while in South Africa it decreased. Elri Voigt… Read more »

South Africa: Medicines Stockouts Persist in North West As Tide Turns Slowly

Despite some improvement over the past three years, the North West province continues to experience medicine shortages, according to a survey by a community clinic monitoring… Read more »

South Africa: Walking With 'Nomakhayas' - How the Bulungula Incubator Is Creating Change in Wild Coast Communities

An innovative health programme is thriving and making a difference in the lives of people in rural Eastern Cape communities. Sue Segar spent time with the project, walking with… Read more »

South Africa: 'We Were the First Ones to Do It' - Innovative Study Takes TB Tests to Homes

Most tuberculosis (TB) tests still require a trip to the clinic. Now, new technology has made it possible to test people at home. This could be a big deal for South Africa, where… Read more »

South Africa: Questions Over New Limpopo Health MEC Dieketseng Mashego, but Stakeholders Willing to Give Her a Chance

The deployment of the relatively unknown Dieketseng Mashego as Limpopo's new MEC for health has raised eyebrows. Ufrieda Ho rounds up some responses to her appointment. Read more »

South Africa: How 'NHI On Wheels' Is Making a Difference to Young People in the Eastern Cape

The Keready project uses mobile clinics to take healthcare services to rural areas. Sue Segar spent time with the project as they took eye, dental, and other healthcare services to… Read more »

South Africa: New North West Health MEC Sello Lehari Vows to Prioritise NHI

Sello Lehari is the newly-appointed MEC for health in the North West province. Critics have doubts about his deployment while healthcare unions stand ready with several items for… Read more »

South Africa: Codeine Addiction in SA - New Guideline Aims to Curb Abuse

Rehab centres in South Africa have been admitting an increasing number of codeine users in recent years. Now, the country's medicines regulator has published a draft guideline as… Read more »

South Africa: Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko's Comeback As Gauteng MEC for Health Sparks Mixed Reactions

ANC support in Gauteng dipped below 40% in the recent provincial elections and an ANC-led minority government is now at the helm. Among those in Premier Panyaza Lesufi's new… Read more »

South Africa: Of South Africa's Nine Health MECs, Five Are New

Following South Africa's 2024 national and provincial elections, the decisions about the top health jobs in the country's nine provinces have now all been made. Elri Voigt rounds… Read more »