Spotlight on NHI: In search of common ground
Marcus Low takes an in-depth look at the politics of NHI, explores the concerns people have with the NHI Bill, and asks what it will take for people in South Africa to find more common ground.
Mental Health Unit is a ‘disaster’, says Public Service Commissioner
The Public Service Commission (PSC) made a surprise visit to the Cecilia Makiwane Mental Health Unit – 10 days after Spotlight published its investigation into a whistleblower’s plea about the unit’s dire state.
Spotlight on NHI: What has actually changed in the new Bill?
Sasha Stevenson considers what has changed between the 2018 draft NHI Bill and the version released two weeks ago to see how, if at all, thinking and planning for NHI has developed.
Opinion: Approval of new TB drug lays bare crisis in TB research
While a combination of drugs including now FDA-approved pretomanid is probably the best treatment for XDR-TB, it is still not clear whether or not pretomanid itself is safe and effective.
New tuberculosis medicine studied in South Africa approved in United States
The new tuberculosis medicine pretomanid has just been registered by the United States Food and Drug Administration. What are the implications for South Africa?
The plan to revive medicines regulation in South Africa
SAHPRA inherited a backlog of around 16 000 medicine regulatory applications from the MCC. How can this backlog be processed and medicines regulation improved in future?
Opinion: Right of access to affordable meds watered down in Presidential Compact
The root causes of high prices—unchecked patent-granted monopolies—remain in place. Once again, thousands of lives are being lost on the altar of profiteering. Mark Heywood and Zain Rizvi argue why South Africa must urgently adopt a new patent law.
Is scaling up active case finding the missing piece in our TB response?
Might an ambitious scale up of active case finding be just what is needed to break the back of South Africa’s tuberculosis epidemic?
Another Eastern Cape psychiatric facility damned
The derelict Cecilia Makiwane Hospital Mental Health Unit is a powerful indictment of the province’s failure to care for the mentally ill.
Graphs that tell the story of HIV in South Africa’s provinces
The recently released outputs of the Thembisa mathematical model of HIV in South Africa allow us to compare the burden of HIV at the provincial level and see how close each province comes to achieving the 90-90-90 targets. We made some graphs to explore the data.
What are we to make of the ADVANCE trial results?
Two leading South African HIV experts reflect on the future of new ARVs dolutegravir and TAF, following the publication of findings from a major new trial conducted in Johannesburg.
New palliative care option for Cape Town kids
On a leafy street in Rondebosch, Cape Town, a new palliative care facility for children is taking shape. Biénne Huisman paid a visit.