Home • Spotlight

Our Latest

Little access to safe surgery in SADC, conference hears

January 17, 2020

Only 5 percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to safe surgery and many countries in the region have no surgical policies, delegates heard yesterday at an agenda setting conference hosted by Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Global Surgery.

Health in 2020: Eight questions facing SA

January 10, 2020

Between President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ongoing new dawn and important healthcare reforms, 2020 will be a critically important year for healthcare in South Africa. Spotlight formulated eight questions to set out what is at stake.

Comprehensive sexuality education is a universal right

December 17, 2019

The scourge of HIV and deaths due to unsafe abortion among young people urgently calls for age appropriate Comprehensive Sex Education. It also calls for reform of restrictive laws and for more resources to be allocated to Sexual and Reproductive Health, writes Thuthukile Mbatha.

Medical Waste: The curious case of a contract extended for 16 years

December 13, 2019

The last time medical waste services in KwaZulu-Natal were delivered in terms of a standard non-extended, tender was 2003. With the cancelation of a recently advertised tender this highly irregular situation seems set to continue well into 2020.

US invests more in TB research, SA investment drops, report finds

December 13, 2019

In 2018 the United States invested $371 million in tuberculosis research and development (R&D). South Africa invested $4.5 million (R64,9 million) – a dramatic decrease on 2017, but still high when measured as a proportion of all R&D spending in the country.

OPINION: Democracy suffers when legislatures don’t share information

December 12, 2019

The latest Auditor-General’s (AG) report makes for grim reading regarding a number of provincial departments of health. Yet, there seems little hope that provincial legislatures will hold these departments to account and even less that the public will be kept informed of the activities of these legislatures.

Child Gauge: From surviving to thriving, child rights in focus

December 11, 2019

The Children’s Institute’s much-anticipated annual Child Gauge report was launched earlier this week and puts the state of children’s rights in focus while highlighting the need for a number of key interventions.

Why TAC wants a say in landmark medical negligence case

December 10, 2019

A case that may be heading to the Constitutional Court could determine whether or not the state can be held liable for medical negligence in certain cases. Motheo Brodie explains why the TAC is seeking to be admitted as a friend of the court in this landmark case.

NHI Lawmakers: Face to face with IFP MP Magdalene Hlengwa

December 9, 2019

“They all say yes because of their poverty. They don’t know the disadvantages of NHI,” says IFP MP Magdalene Hlengwa, reflecting on the public hearings on the NHI Bill. Biénne Huisman sat down with Hlengwa to discuss NHI and much more.

Clinical associates: Are we wasting a golden opportunity?

December 6, 2019

In 2008 a new class of mid-level health worker was created in response to the shortage of doctors in the public sector. A decade later, has government given up on clinical associates? Amy Green investigates.

Fewer baby deaths at Leratong hospital: This is how they did it

December 5, 2019

Amidst concerns over rising neonatal deaths in some health facilities in Gauteng, at least one hospital, Leratong Hospital, has a good story to tell.

Child’s first 1 000 days are critical, conference hears

December 5, 2019

A newborn’s first 1 000 days are crucial, according to paediatrician, Dr Elmarie Malek. Malek presented a paper at the 10th Child Health Priorities Conference last weekend highlighting the need to invest in a child’s first 1000 days.

MORE NEWS

IN FOCUS: Spotlight on NHI

SA’s children surviving but not thriving, conference hears

December 5, 2019

Health practitioners, caregivers and academics recently attended the 10th Child Health Priorities Conference at the University of North West (NWU) under the theme – “survive, thrive and transform – championing change for children”. Some experts argued that South Africa’s children is surviving, but not thriving. Madala Thepa reports.

Eastern Cape: NHI Bill public hearings in pictures

December 4, 2019

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health wrapped up the last public hearings on the NHI Bill for this year on Monday in King William’s Town. Here is the hearings in pictures.

OPINION: Fix our clinics, save our lives

December 4, 2019

We are not making a flippant statement or trying to cry wolf, but we have a crisis in our health system which will have a devastating impact if not addressed, writes three people involved with the new Ritshidze clinic monitoring initiative.

Msukaligwa AIDS activists welcome municipal funding

December 4, 2019

The effective functioning of local AIDS councils can be hampered by something as basic as taxi fare members need to attend meetings. Now one Mpumalanga municipality is giving grassroots activists financial support to help with the basics they need to mobilise, organise and implement the local AIDS council’s action plans. UFRIEDA HO reports.

EC mental health unit needs facelift, says PSC

December 3, 2019

In a report released today, the Public Service Commission has described seclusion rooms at an Eastern Cape mental health unit as akin to “apartheid secluded prison cells”.

Ailing health system in spotlight at OR Tambo NHI public hearing

December 3, 2019

Residents of the OR Tambo District in the Eastern Cape were mostly in favour of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill at a public hearing in Mthatha, but raised questions on how it will solve problems in the Eastern Cape’s ailing health system, especially in rural areas.