NHI Act offers no answer to high medicines prices
The National Health Insurance Act does not deal with the systemic issues that cause high prices and inequity in medicine access, and government is not listening, argues Fatima Hassan.
Nelson Mandela Bay clinics under siege as crime threatens healthcare
A series of robberies at healthcare facilities in the Eastern Cape has disrupted services, with patients sometimes left waiting outside while clinics limit the number of people allowed in. This follows the provincial health department spending over R700 million on security contracts in the past financial year, reports Luvuyo Mehlwana.
Why people stop taking their HIV treatment and what we can do about it
Stopping antiretroviral treatment when you are living with HIV can result in increased HIV transmission, illness, hospitalisation, and eventually death. To combat such disengagement with HIV treatment, Professor Graeme Meintjes and colleagues argue we need smarter differentiated care and better education of healthcare workers, people living with HIV, and communities.
SA has the third highest suicide rate in Africa – there are steps we can take to tackle it
South Africa has the third highest suicide rate in Africa and Africa has higher rates of suicide than any other continent. In the wake of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th, clinical psychologist Vincenzo Sinisi asks what can be done to bring down suicide rates.
How to save more mothers from dying during childbirth
COVID-19 temporarily reversed South Africa’s hard-won reduction in maternal mortality, but the death rate has now stabilised, and hopes are high that the downward trend will resume. However, if experts are right, we’re missing some crucial interventions that would further prevent what are avoidable deaths. Chris Bateman talks to some of the leading lights in the field.
Glenda Gray’s fierce fight for science, the COVID-19 ruckus, and the bathroom row about HIV drugs
After a decade at the helm of the country’s primary health research funder, Professor Glenda Gray will focus again on doing the science. She tells Spotlight’s Biénne Huisman about her childhood, her passion for research, administering multi-million dollar grants, and a heated argument in the bathroom with an ANC bigwig.
Living with a cleft: “I smile, but without showing teeth”
The ongoing psychological, functional, and aesthetic challenges experienced by people with cleft lip and palate underscore the need for an individualised, lifelong, and multidisciplinary approach to managing the condition, argues Kholofelo Mphahlele.
What can SA do to prepare for snake antivenom shortages?
Some researchers argue that South Africa should look into using “expired” doses of antivenom if the country once again struggles to make enough of the treatment – something which happened in 2023. In part 2 of a Spotlight special series on snake antivenom, Jesse Copelyn outlines the case for extending the shelf-life and goes over some exciting, but very early, research on a new form of antivenom.
No silver bullet for bridging SA’s healthcare divide, say delegates at hospital conference
With South Africa’s healthcare system facing a myriad challenges, experts at a health conference have put forward a range of practical solutions to address some of the country’s pressing issues. Ufrieda Ho rounds up some of the proposed solutions to improve patient care, including the use of public-private partnerships.
Access to contraception and mental healthcare services are critical to empowering women in rural areas
The lack of access to essential healthcare services in rural areas worsens the challenges women face, particularly when it comes to early pregnancy and gender-based violence. Celene Coleman and Hanifa Mahlangu argue for strategies that prioritise the empowerment of rural women through improved access to contraception and mental health services.
SA’s HIV burden a concern as new mpox strain spreads in DRC – but much still unknown
The African Centre for Disease Control and World Health Organization have raised the alarm following a drastic uptick in mpox cases. This surge is being driven by a new strain of the virus. Elri Voigt reports about what we know so far and potential implications for 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 case resulted in a settlement that helped drive down the prices of several antiretrovirals, thereby helping to set the stage for the country’s HIV treatment programme. Fatima Hassan and Leena Menghaney connect the dots between the two landmark cases and map out what has and has not changed over the last two decades.