The South African Medical Association has for years raised concerns about the criminalisation of medical errors, stressing that current legal practices may undermine patient safety and deter doctors from performing high-risk procedures. Spotlight’s Thabo Molelekwa investigates.
HIV prevention injections have been registered for use in South Africa, but their high price and limited supply means that for the next few years, while awaiting more affordable generics, very few people will be able to get the jabs. In this Spotlight special briefing, Catherine Tomlinson looks at the difficult choices facing the country if we want to offer the injection to more people more quickly. The calls we make could have global implications.
By month end South Africa will have a new Minister of Health. Ufrieda Ho asked some academics and activists what qualities that person should have to tackle the key health issues the country faces.
In this open letter to Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla, TB activists call for the disease to be made a political priority and demand multisectoral departmental accountability. They outline six demands for implementation by the end of this year. The letter was submitted on the final day of the South African TB Conference being held this week in Durban.
Besides preventing illness and death, tuberculosis prevention therapy is estimated to be highly cost effective. Yet, uptake of the medication is not what it could be in South Africa. Tiyese Jeranji asks how much has changed since the Department of Health last year decided to make TB prevention therapy much more widely available.
A senior doctor who worked at Zithulele Hospital in the Eastern Cape for close to a decade has been instructed to report to the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha. Some Zithulele hospital staff and community members last week protested the move. Sue Segar reports.
The chairperson of the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee on Health Dr Kenneth Jacobs played a pivotal role in deliberations on the National Health Insurance Bill. Spotlight’s Biénne Huisman asked Jacobs about some criticisms of NHI and about his plans for life after Parliament.
The North West University Medical School will be the country’s 11th medical school. Nthusang Lefafa speaks to public health experts to find out how this new medical school will do things differently.
Spotlight reached out to different political parties in the Eastern Cape to get their perspectives on how they plan to jack up healthcare in a province where thousands of people still have difficulty accessing healthcare. Only three parties responded. We zoom in on their views on crippled emergency medical services and ballooning medico-legal claims.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed the NHI Bill into law. The question is whether this will bring South Africa closer towards Universal Health Coverage. Professor Susan Cleary argues that the NHI is a wide ranging reform with both positive and controversial aspects. The key will be to find a middle ground in order to continue on the journey to UHC.
What is at stake in South Africa’s upcoming provincial elections when it comes to healthcare? Ufrieda Ho put questions to five political parties about their plans to get Gauteng Health on track to better healthcare services after the polls. Only two parties responded .
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the National Health Insurance Bill, which is the ANC-led government’s plan for universal health coverage, just 14 days before the country heads to the polls.
