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In-depth: ‘Access not excess’ key to reducing antibiotic resistance in SA

In-depth: ‘Access not excess’ key to reducing antibiotic resistance in SA

By Tiyese Jeranji,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest, Science

Antibiotics play a vital role in the management of bacterial infections, reducing illness, and preventing many deaths. A 2011 report from the UK estimated that they have increased life expectancy by 20 years. However, the extensive use of antibiotics has resulted in drug resistance that threatens to reverse their life-saving power and if the situation is not reversed, it has been estimated that by 2050 as many as 10 million people will die annually of drug-resistant infections. Tiyese Jeranji looks at how antimicrobial resistance plays out in South Africa and the role of pharmacists in the fight against it.

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SA expected to begin piloting HIV prevention shot in early 2023

SA expected to begin piloting HIV prevention shot in early 2023

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, HIV, Latest

South Africa is expected to begin piloting the every-other-month HIV prevention shot early next year, according to the international medicine financing initiative Unitaid. New modelling shows that the injection could prevent as many as 52 000 new HIV infections in the next two decades. But to be cost-effective in South Africa, the research argues, the price of the injection must fall to levels drugmaker ViiV Healthcare says are unrealistic. Laura Lopez Gonzalez reports.

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In-depth: Good sexual and reproductive health services on paper, but implementation gaps remain

In-depth: Good sexual and reproductive health services on paper, but implementation gaps remain

By Tiyese Jeranji,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Child health, Edition 6: HIV & teens, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, HIV, Latest, Reproductive Health, SRHR

Though South Africa has in some respects done well in the provision of sexual and reproductive health services for adolescent girls and young women, significant gaps remain. Tiyese Jeranji takes an in-depth look at the current policy landscape and asks how well the implementation of the policies measures up to their lofty ambitions.

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In-depth: Healthcare in Mpumalanga hamstrung by ambulance shortages and other problems

In-depth: Healthcare in Mpumalanga hamstrung by ambulance shortages and other problems

By Nthusang Lefafa,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest, Provinces

Despite some interventions by Mpumalanga’s health department, a litany of challenges at Mpumalanga hospitals continue to hamstrung quality patient care in the province. Nthusang Lefafa explores these challenges and asked the health department what is being done to address them.

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Morphine shortages leave patients in pain

Morphine shortages leave patients in pain

By Ufrieda Ho,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Latest

South Africa has only one public sector supplier of resized packages of morphine powder and the company’s failure to deliver since July has left some patients in unspeakable agony. Ufrieda Ho reports.

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In-depth: Have 4 years of administration reduced medicine stockouts in North West?

In-depth: Have 4 years of administration reduced medicine stockouts in North West?

By Nthusang Lefafa,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Latest, North West, Provinces

Public healthcare facilities in the North West have been plagued by chronic medicines stockouts for years. Now, as the province’s health department is again taking the reins after four years under administration by the National Department of Health, Nthusang Lefafa asks what progress has or has not been made in that most basic of healthcare functions, providing people with the medicines they need.

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Rural Doctor of the Year: Craig Parker – the doctor-engineer who created a COVID lifeline for rural areas

Rural Doctor of the Year: Craig Parker – the doctor-engineer who created a COVID lifeline for rural areas

By Biénne Huisman,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Eastern Cape, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest, Provinces

A trained engineer and medical doctor, Dr Craig Parker created an oxygen device that was an important lifeline to patients in rural Eastern Cape at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month at the Rural Health Conference in Oudtshoorn, Parker received the Rural Doctor of the Year Award for 2022. Bienne Huisman chatted to Parker about the device and his life as a rural doctor.

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In-depth: Why only some public sector patients can access a key breast cancer drug

In-depth: Why only some public sector patients can access a key breast cancer drug

By Elri Voigt,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Latest, Provinces, Reproductive Health, SRHR, Western Cape

A potentially life-saving or life-extending breast cancer medicine is available to public sector patients in several of South Africa’s provinces, but not in the Western Cape. Elri Voigt asks what is behind the Western Cape government’s decision.

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In-depth: Codeine regulation – a tussle between pain relief and addiction

In-depth: Codeine regulation – a tussle between pain relief and addiction

By Elri Voigt,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Latest

Whether a pharmacist suggests it for treating headaches or whether a doctor prescribes it for managing post-surgical pain, chances are good that at some point you’ve taken a pain pill containing the opioid codeine. But since codeine can be addictive and withdrawal symptoms severe, regulation of the drug in South Africa has turned into a headache. Elri Voigt takes an in-depth look at the complexities of codeine regulation.

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Opinion: Mothers and babies pay the price for medical xenophobia

Opinion: Mothers and babies pay the price for medical xenophobia

By Thembi Mahlathi and Sibusisiwe Ndlela,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Child health, Healthcare system, Latest

Pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children should have free healthcare services, irrespective of nationality and documentation status. It is an entitlement that our law already affords them and one that we will continue to defend writes Thembi Mahlathi and Sibusisiwe Ndlela.

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In-depth: Fewer meds stockouts at SA clinics, but contraceptives often not available

In-depth: Fewer meds stockouts at SA clinics, but contraceptives often not available

By Aisha Abdool Karim,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Latest, Reproductive Health, SRHR

South Africa is seeing fewer medication stockouts than in previous years but contraception shortages continue to be a problem in the country, according to a new report from the Stop Stockouts Project. Injectables, the most widely used method in South Africa, accounted for three-quarters of contraception stockouts reported. Aisha Abdool Karim unpacks what this means for women’s sexual and reproductive health.

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OPINION: Abortion rights in three African countries  after a major setback in the US

OPINION: Abortion rights in three African countries  after a major setback in the US

By Sibusisiwe Ndlela, Charlemaine Husselmann and Primah Kwagala,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Latest, SRHR

The right to abortion has been catapulted into the spotlight by Dobbs v Jackson, the landmark judgment of the United States Supreme Court that overturned Roe v Wade – a 50-year-old precedent of that court that first recognised the constitutional right to abortion in the US. The recognition of a right to abortion is often the first step towards creating an enabling environment for women to access abortions but in some countries in East and Southern Africa, argue the authors, Dobbs may put brakes on little sparks of hope that emerged in recent years.

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