As the final negotiations in the 2021 budget process unfold, the government of the Eastern Cape and the department of health in particular are being asked to do more with less. It is now more urgent than ever to strengthen public primary health care, argue Ektaa Deochand and Russell Rensburg.
It is more than a year since Spotlight visited the Xhora Mouth area in the Eastern Cape to report on the locals’ challenges in accessing health care services. Now, a year later, not much has changed. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
Despite glaring poverty and the high unemployment rate plaguing the village of Ngquthu near Dutywa in the Amathole district in the Eastern Cape, villagers pulled together their resources to refurbish what was once a preschool into a community health facility. The community took their access to healthcare into their own hands after complaints over the long distance and residents who, on the way to the nearest clinic, fell victim to a spate of rapes and muggings. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
Numbers from the National Institute of Communicable Disease and from some provinces show that TB diagnoses have dropped dramatically in 2020 – likely due to COVID-19 and the related lockdown. The Eastern Cape Department of Health has however declined to share information on the TB situation in the province and their catch-up plans. Some activists are concerned about the situation. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
After more than 16 years at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, Shihaam Cader and her team have helped to treat and rehabilitate thousands of malnourished children. Kathryn Cleary chatted to Cader for the first part of a six-part special series on child hunger in South Africa.
With chronic health worker shortages and limited resources such as ventilators in rural public health facilities, how did Zithulele Hospital in OR Tambo District manage its COVID-19 cases? Tiyese Jeranji spoke to two doctors working at Zithulele about an innovative oxygen solution, infection control, and much more.
The dire state of health infrastructure and services in the Eastern Cape has made headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic and triggered promises of government intervention, but in some hospitals those providing and receiving healthcare note little to no improvement. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
[caption id="attachment_3511" align="alignnone" width="520"] Image: Robert Hamblin[/caption] In April 2010, South Africa launched an ambitious HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign. Apart from some concerning reports of forced testing, the…
April 2010, South Africa launched an ambitious HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign. Apart from some concerning reports of forced testing, the campaign was a success, testing over 10 million…
A new study is being planned for South Africa. The results from the study could change first-line treatment here and in other low- and middle-income countries. What are the new…
results in from the landmark START trial, all dials are aligning on how to beat back the HIV epidemic. Everything is set, but will there be lift-off? In July findings…
is an important drug for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). Together with three other drugs, it makes up the four-in-one pill that people with drug-susceptible (DS) TB are treated with…
