Inside The Box with Dr Andy Gray | How could more efficient use of reliance improve access to quality, affordable medicines?

Inside The Box with Dr Andy Gray | How could more efficient use of reliance improve access to quality, affordable medicines?

Rather than trying to do everything from scratch, medicines regulators from different countries are increasingly sharing the load between them by ‘relying’ on each other’s work. In his latest Inside The Box column, Dr Andy Gray explains how such ‘reliance mechanisms’ can help regulators make decisions more quickly and efficiently, and digs into the details of how South Africa can make the most of these mechanisms.

Read More

Stateless in SA: Primrose Modisane’s years-long struggle for legal recognition

Stateless in SA: Primrose Modisane’s years-long struggle for legal recognition

When South Africans get caught up in the country’s often dysfunctional home affairs system, sometimes even DNA evidence isn’t enough to prove their citizenship. This can, among others, have consequences for people’s ability to access healthcare services. For foreign nationals, navigating the system can be even harder.

Read More

Dragon slayer in a time of dragons: Dr Nomathemba Chandiwana battles ‘SA’s new HIV epidemic’

Dragon slayer in a time of dragons: Dr Nomathemba Chandiwana battles ‘SA’s new HIV epidemic’

The obesity epidemic will hit South Africa hard on top of our high HIV burden, but advocate researcher and scientist Dr Nomathemba Chandiwana says she is ready to fight back harder. She speaks to Ufrieda Ho about her journey from working in state hospitals to transitioning into obesity medicine, and her move to Cape Town.

Read More

Inside SA’s multi-million rand plan to fill US funding void

Inside SA’s multi-million rand plan to fill US funding void

In response to US funding cuts for South African health services and research projects, National Treasury has provided the National Department of Health with hundreds of millions of rands in emergency funds. Spotlight and GroundUp look at how precisely the government intends to spend this money.

Read More

“I looked at those tiny feet”: How a Joburg mother’s journey helped thousands of children walk without pain

“I looked at those tiny feet”: How a Joburg mother’s journey helped thousands of children walk without pain

When Karen Mara Moss’ son was diagnosed with clubfoot, she travelled to the US in search of a life-changing treatment. She made a promise to bring it home and two decades on, her non-profit is at the heart of a remarkable success story.

Read More

SA’s doctor deal with Cuba is out of touch and out of time, critics say

SA’s doctor deal with Cuba is out of touch and out of time, critics say

The Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro medical training programme has been controversial from the start. It’s had high points, low points and many say it should have an end point, writes Ufrieda Ho.

Read More

Inside The Box with Dr Andy Gray | Should pharmaceutical advertising in SA be better regulated, and why?

Inside The Box with Dr Andy Gray | Should pharmaceutical advertising in SA be better regulated, and why?

For over 20 years, the law has required that the Minister of Health issues regulations to govern the advertising of medicines in South Africa, but as yet no such regulations are in place. In his latest Inside The Box column, Dr Andy Gray considers what this means for the marketing of medicines in the country.

Read More

IAS2025: Findings give hope for monthly HIV prevention pill

IAS2025: Findings give hope for monthly HIV prevention pill

An HIV prevention pill that could provide a month of protection per tablet has been given the green light to proceed to pivotal trials to test its efficacy. Elri Voigt reports on new findings on the pill that were presented at the International AIDS Conference.

Read More

Saving mothers, shaping policy: Professor Susan Fawcus’ fight for mothers

Saving mothers, shaping policy: Professor Susan Fawcus’ fight for mothers

Over a long and distinguished career, Professor Susan Fawcus has become known for her work trying to reduce the deaths of mothers and babies in South Africa. In her home in Cape Town, the soft-spoken champion for health equity chats with Spotlight about her journey as a researcher, doctor, and obstetrician, and shares her fears of rising maternal mortality in an age of austerity.

Read More

After US funding cuts, Mozambican children died: Who bears responsibility?

After US funding cuts, Mozambican children died: Who bears responsibility?

Spotlight and GroundUp published a two-part exposé showing how US aid cuts led to the deaths of children in Mozambique. Here, Jesse Copelyn considers what led to this tragedy and who should bear responsibility for it.

Read More

Francois Venter | Slow motion denialism: Our leaders are allowing the HIV response to collapse

Francois Venter | Slow motion denialism: Our leaders are allowing the HIV response to collapse

South Africa is staging a sequel to Mbeki-era denialism, only this time, the science, solutions, and costs are clearer, argues Professor Francois Venter.

Read More

Government is considering providing a vaccine to protect babies from RSV

Government is considering providing a vaccine to protect babies from RSV

A new respiratory syncytial virus vaccine to protect infants from severe illness is available in South Africa’s private sector but not yet in public clinics. The country’s advisory group on immunisations has recommended making it available to all pregnant women. Catherine Tomlinson reports that this proposal is now under review by the National Department of Health.

Read More