Women and girls seeking abortions are often forced to seek informal, illegal, and unsafe abortions as a result of various systemic barriers. Khanyisa Mapipa, Sibusisiwe Ndlela, and Thokozile Mtsolongo look at the state of abortion services in the public sector in the Eastern Cape.
Despite Eastern Cape Health authorities acknowledging that the continued use of mud clinics is a concern, rural residents still have to make do with these dilapidated clinics. Luvuyo Mehlwana visited some of these mud clinics to speak to some residents and asked the provincial health department about their plans to address this.
The Northern Cape Health Department has been without a permanent department head (HOD) since July 2020 and an acting head has been suspended following his arrest in August last year on charges of fraud and corruption. Organised labour and opposition parties in the province are concerned over the impact that the leadership instability has on healthcare services. Refilwe Mochoari reports.
It is business as usual at the Free State Department of Health with the acting Head of the Department Godfrey Mahlatsi back at work after he was released on R5 000 bail on 11 February. Mahlatsi is accused of contravening the Public Finance Management Act, while some of his co-accused face charges ranging from corruption and fraud to money laundering. The alleged fraud and corruption led to an R8.7 million loss to the department. Refilwe Mochoari reports.
On 17 February, Deputy Health Minister Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo led a march against unsafe abortions in Rustenburg, North West, but a march alone cannot eliminate barriers that prevent women and girls from accessing safe abortions in the public health system. Much more is needed, argue Sibusiwe Ndlela, Khanyisa Mapipa and Thokozile Mtsolongo in an open letter.
Even though the rate of new HIV infections in young women and adolescent girls remains stubbornly high, provision and uptake of pills that can prevent HIV infection have generally been slow and lagging. One potential solution presented at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections is to provide the pills at schools. Tiyese Jeranji reports.
While there are nine experimental tuberculosis (TB) vaccines in advanced trials, the vaccine pipeline beyond those nine prospects is relatively depleted. Adele Baleta reports on this and much more from the virtual Global TB Vaccine Forum held last week.
As we transition towards a different strategy in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and look to build up better, there was an expectation that the budget tabled this week, would provide insight into the government’s response and strategy to address the gaps left by COVID. Russel Rensburg looks at some of the budget’s hits and misses as it relates to healthcare.
Michele Clarke recently took over the reins from Siviwe Gwarube as the Democratic Alliance’s health spokesperson and is no stranger to the hotbed of parliamentary politics. Bienne Huisman sat down with her to discuss taking up her new role amid ongoing deliberations on the NHI Bill in Parliament.
On a scorching summer day, Siyabonga Kamnqa sat down to listen to the stories of some frustrated gogos and mkhulus waiting to collect their chronic medicines at the busy All Saints Hospital in the rural town of Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape. He then asked the province’s health department about its plans for getting medicines to people in rural areas.
Security guards at healthcare facilities in Nelson Mandela Bay went on strike in January when their salaries had not been paid. During the strike, healthcare workers had to close some clinics as they feared for their safety, and patients were left stranded. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports on what happened and asked the health authorities what plans are in place to prevent similar incidents amid persistent budget constraints.
After almost a year, the Gauteng Health Department yesterday announced a strategic reset for repairs at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital after a fire ravaged parts of the hospital in April last year. The announcement comes ahead of Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s State of the Province Address on Monday but still does not provide immediate relief to patients and hospitals buckling as a result of delays. Ufrieda Ho reports.
