Two doctors who run a small-scale ambulance service in Louis Trichardt (Makhado) in Limpopo with no aeromedical experience, landed a lucrative air ambulance contract with the provincial health department which has already paid out close to R3-million in four months. By Anso Thom and Marcus Low
Many people in South Africa living with HIV never start taking antiretroviral treatment, or start and then stop. Spotlight asked the experts how big a problem this is and what can be done about it.
New medicines usually take many years or even decades to reach public sector patients in South Africa. One new HIV medicine is an exception.
A group of workers staged a strike at Witrand psychiatric hospital in Potchefstroom trashing several sections in the facility and terrifying mental health patients.
Last year’s Presidential Health Summit was supposed to be a big step towards saving our health system. Last week was the release of a report on the summit. Is this the panacea the health system has been waiting for?
Russell Rensburg of the Rural Health Advocacy Project outlines four healthcare priorities for today’s critical budget.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has called for more inclusive economic policies and a review of fiscal policy to enable government to meet its Constitutional and international human rights obligations. But is Tito Mboweni willing to take a tip based on international law? Sadly, it seems unlikely, writes Mark Heywood.
Will the Presidential Health Summit be a turning point? The pill the sick and ailing health system needs? Only time will tell, but yesterday the report with the outputs from the October summit was released in Cape Town. Read the report and the President’s speech here.
South Africa has been “on the brink” of major health system change for almost a decade. National Health Insurance (NHI) has been the buzz-phrase for years, but somehow it is still one of the most elusive policies of our time and it is made less tangible with each iteration of the policy. Sasha Stevenson and Nomatter Ndebele on why we are nowhere.
Tonight when President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his second state of the nation address (SONA) he will say very little about the actual health of the nation. Mark Heywood unpacks what the President is unlikely to address in his SONA tonight and why that is poor.
All nine of South Africa’s provinces have finalised their NSP provincial implementation plans and six out of nine provincial AIDS councils are chaired by premiers, according to the South African National AIDS Council.
South Africa urgently needs a pregnancy register to help establish whether an important new antiretroviral medicine causes birth abnormalities, argues Tom Boyles.