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.
Early in South Africa’s fourth COVID-19 wave, dominated by the Omicron variant, concerns were raised on what appeared to be an increase in hospitalisations among children. A few months on, Elri Voigt asks local experts what we have learnt about the Omicron variant in children.
The South African Law Reform Commission recently published its discussion paper on medico-legal claims. Baone Twala unpacks the Commission’s proposals on law reform and what it may mean for claimants and the government.
Epinephrine auto-injectors, often known by the commercial name EpiPen, can be life-savers for people suffering severe allergic reactions, but the treatments are difficult to find in South Africa and expensive.
The Life Esidimeni Inquest stands as a crucial accountability process for a national tragedy that ought never to have happened and should never happen again, writes Julia Chaskalson and Mbali Baduza as they summarise and assess progress at the inquest since October – having previously written about the first months of the inquest from July to October last year.
On Wednesday this week, it will be the 25th day of public hearings in Parliament on the National Health Insurance Bill (NHI) since the hearings started in May last year. In Part 2 of this two-part series on the NHI Bill, Alicestine October looks at how far the Bill has come in the legislative process and what to expect in the months ahead.
On Wednesday this week, it will be the 25th day of public hearings in Parliament on the National Health Insurance Bill since the hearings started in May last year. In Part 1 of this two-part series on the NHI Bill, Alicestine October looks at how MPs have dealt with oral submissions on the Bill in Parliament so far and assesses what this means for the Bill going forward.
