Stopping health funding in Africa weakens America

Stopping health funding in Africa weakens America

Following President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend foreign aid, President Cyril Ramaphosa can display great leadership by meeting with leaders of wealthy countries and convincing them to increase spending to support the health systems of poorer countries, write Nathan Geffen and Marcus Low.

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Gauteng MEC threatens schoolgirls’ bodily autonomy with compulsory implant

Gauteng MEC threatens schoolgirls’ bodily autonomy with compulsory implant

The bodily autonomy of young women and girls is under threat as Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko intends to make the contraceptive implanon compulsory for learners as long as their parents consent. This approach to addressing teenage pregnancy is misguided and unlawful, argues Khuselwa Dyantyi. 

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Health in 2025: Spotlight’s top 4 questions for the year ahead

Health in 2025: Spotlight’s top 4 questions for the year ahead

From the ongoing political and legal battles over NHI, to the far-reaching health impacts of political change in the United States, it is set to be another tumultuous year for healthcare in South Africa and around the globe. Here’s Spotlight’s top four healthcare questions for 2025.

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Health in 2024: The year in fewer than 1 000 words

Health in 2024: The year in fewer than 1 000 words

From the NHI Act to major advances in HIV prevention, it has been another busy year in the world of healthcare. Spotlight editors Marcus Low and Adiel Ismail recap the year’s health developments and identify some key trends in fewer than 1 000 words. 

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Pretoria company aims to lead SA in making key TB drug ingredients

Pretoria company aims to lead SA in making key TB drug ingredients

Though several South African companies are producing HIV and TB medicines, the active ingredients that go into these medicines are usually imported from India or China. Now, a local company is planning to break new ground by making the active ingredients for two important TB medicines in Pretoria. Catherine Tomlinson zooms in on the company’s efforts and outlines some of the obstacles to getting such local production off the ground.

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South Africa’s AIDS response: Progress, challenges, and opportunities

South Africa’s AIDS response: Progress, challenges, and opportunities

Ahead of World AIDS Day 2024, Professor Salim Abdool Karim and Dr Nikita Devnarain argue that South Africa needs a concerted effort to reduce new HIV infections in young women and to prepare for the rollout of long-acting forms of HIV prevention alongside a well-functioning HIV treatment programme.

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Where in SA someone lives determines how many ARVs they get at a time

Where in SA someone lives determines how many ARVs they get at a time

Whether or not someone living with HIV in South Africa gets a one- or three-months’ supply of antiretrovirals at a time depends partly on the clinic where they happen to go for HIV care. Ahead of World AIDS Day 2024, Elri Voigt unpacks the legal and policy issues relating to prescriptions and HIV medicine refills and asks why people living with HIV are treated so differently in different parts of the country.

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Why the fuss about long-acting antiretrovirals for HIV?

Why the fuss about long-acting antiretrovirals for HIV?

HIV prevention injections that can provide two, or even six, months of protection per shot have arguably been the biggest HIV story of the year. Ahead of World AIDS Day, Professor Francois Venter assesses the state of play and the critical next steps with these potentially game-changing new tools in the fight against HIV.

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Why the Competition Commission’s decision on two cancer medicine cases could have much wider implications

Why the Competition Commission’s decision on two cancer medicine cases could have much wider implications

There is a history of competition law being used to drive HIV medicine prices lower in South Africa. Now, two cases involving cancer medicines seem set to nail down what qualifies as “excessive pricing” in South African law – a legal development that could have far reaching implications for medicines prices in the country. Catherine Tomlinson unpacks the details.

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#InTheSpotlight | Where are we in the search for an HIV cure?

#InTheSpotlight | Where are we in the search for an HIV cure?

Highly effective treatments for HIV have existed since the mid-1990s. But while these treatments keep people healthy, we do not yet have a safe and scalable way to completely rid the body of the virus. In this Spotlight special briefing, Elri Voigt takes stock of where we are in the decades-long search for an HIV cure.

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Women in SA could have access to a three-monthly HIV prevention ring by 2026

Women in SA could have access to a three-monthly HIV prevention ring by 2026

A flexible silicone ring that slowly releases antiretrovirals is one of just two long-acting HIV prevention products registered for use in South Africa. Results from a new study might pave the way for a longer-acting version of the vaginal ring that provides three months of protection at a time, as opposed to one month with the current ring. Elri Voigt reports on these findings and looks at how the one-month ring has influenced HIV prevention choices in South Africa.

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Accountability is critical at National AIDS Council, says new civil society leader

Accountability is critical at National AIDS Council, says new civil society leader

HIV activist Solly Nduku was recently elected to the top civil society position at SANAC. Thabo Molelekwa asked Nduku and his newly elected deputies about their plans and priorities for the council.

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