World’s largest research funder lifts ban on South Africa

World’s largest research funder lifts ban on South Africa

The United States National Institutes of Health has lifted its ban nearly 18 months after an order to stop work with South Africa. The funding ban created a crisis for HIV and TB research, including NIH grants and US Agency for International Development aid. Many of the world’s major advances over the past two decades in understanding the science of HIV arose from South African scientists and from studies conducted here, the vast majority of them funded by the NIH.

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In The Spotlight | What are broadly neutralising antibodies and what do they mean for the fight against HIV?

In The Spotlight | What are broadly neutralising antibodies and what do they mean for the fight against HIV?

HIV is known for its ability to outsmart our immune system’s normal defences. A small number of people living with HIV are however able to generate more effective immune responses to HIV. In this special briefing, Catherine Tomlinson zooms in on broadly neutralising antibodies, the secret sauce in these immune responses.

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The woman caring for Cape Town’s homeless once numbed her own pain with opioids

The woman caring for Cape Town’s homeless once numbed her own pain with opioids

With glimmers of tenderness beneath a stoic façade, Tara Gerardy-Bissolati tells Biénne Huisman about her struggle to beat opioids, why homelessness is a public health issue, and her commitment to bring hope to people living rough in central Cape Town.

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This world-class SA scientist used to cut up her dolls and perform imaginary surgeries

This world-class SA scientist used to cut up her dolls and perform imaginary surgeries

Long before she became a pioneering scientist, Professor Liesl Zühlke insisted on seeing her tonsils after they were removed when she was just five years old. Today, paediatric cardiology is close to her heart, and her research has helped answer critical questions in the entire pipeline of heart disease.

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Inside The Box with Dr Andy Gray | Are complementary medicines effectively regulated in South Africa?

Inside The Box with Dr Andy Gray | Are complementary medicines effectively regulated in South Africa?

The regulation of complementary and alternative medicines in South Africa has been hotly contested in recent decades, including in court rooms. In his latest column for Spotlight, Dr Andy Gray unpacks the legal background and the current state of this still unfolding regulatory saga.

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Marlene le Roux: “I’m a disabled woman, look me in the eye”

Marlene le Roux: “I’m a disabled woman, look me in the eye”

High-octane executive force Marlene le Roux tells Biénne Huisman about contracting polio when she was three months old, about not dimming her light, and renovations that made the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town one of South Africa’s most accessible public spaces.

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What the Public Protector’s food safety investigation reveals about Gauteng’s public health early warning system

What the Public Protector’s food safety investigation reveals about Gauteng’s public health early warning system

From inspecting spaza shops to monitoring water quality, Environmental Health Practitioners help prevent disease before outbreaks occur. A Public Protector investigation reveals why Gauteng municipalities are struggling to deliver these essential public health services. The investigation also helps clarify what will be at stake in South Africa’s local government elections in November. Christina Pitt reports.

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Closing the gap is not enough for children born with cleft lip or cleft palate

Closing the gap is not enough for children born with cleft lip or cleft palate

Every three minutes, a child with a cleft lip or cleft palate is born somewhere in the world. While surgery can repair this, Kholofelo Mphahlele argues that the real measure of success is a culmination of a very long journey that plays out in classrooms, on playgrounds, when photographs are taken, and within communities and workplaces.

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Dr Hermann Reuter says the biggest battle after HIV in SA is addiction – and it is being ignored

Dr Hermann Reuter says the biggest battle after HIV in SA is addiction – and it is being ignored

Dr Hermann Reuter did pioneering work treating HIV in the early 2000s in Cape Town and in the rural Eastern Cape. Today, his focus is substance abuse, which he believes is the country’s biggest health issue after HIV. Sue Segar spent time with him to learn about his work in the Garden Route city of George.

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Reforming prescribed minimum benefits is the first step to affordable medical cover

Reforming prescribed minimum benefits is the first step to affordable medical cover

With plans in motion to roll out universal health coverage in South Africa, Dr Katlego Mothudi, of the Board of Healthcare Funders, argues that revising the compulsory prescribed minimum benefits that medical schemes must provide can be a tool to deliver meaningful improvements today while laying the foundations for a more sustainable healthcare system tomorrow.

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People with HIV are living longer but have fewer years of good health. New guidelines aim to change that

People with HIV are living longer but have fewer years of good health. New guidelines aim to change that

South Africa has an ageing population of people living with HIV. For the first time a set of clinical guidelines maps out a framework to help keep this group of people healthier for longer, reports Elna Schütz.

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AIDS 2026: Some pieces falling into place for monthly HIV prevention pill, but key data not yet in

AIDS 2026: Some pieces falling into place for monthly HIV prevention pill, but key data not yet in

If an HIV prevention pill that provides a month of protection at a time performs well in two ongoing clinical trials, it could become the next big thing in HIV prevention after the lenacapavir injection. A new licensing agreement is paving the way for South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare to produce the pill should the study findings be positive and the drug be registered.

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