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Opinion: An interdict on teen vaccination will harm basic education and violate the rights of learners

Opinion: An interdict on teen vaccination will harm basic education and violate the rights of learners

By Julia Chaskalson and Zeenat Sujee,
Posted in: Latest

The African Christian Democratic Party and partners are in the High Court today and tomorrow seeking to stop the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to adolescents. But in a context where the majority of learners attend schools with infrastructure problems and serious overcrowding, vaccines remain a critical tool to keep learners safe and prevent outbreaks of infection at schools, argue Julia Chaskalson and Zeenat Sujee.

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What Eastern Cape youth say about preventing HIV and unwanted pregnancies

What Eastern Cape youth say about preventing HIV and unwanted pregnancies

By Luvuyo Mehlwana,
Posted in: Eastern Cape, Latest, Provinces

During her recent budget speech Eastern Cape Health MEC Nkhosazana Meth expressed concern over the number of teenage pregnancies in the province. Health activists are calling for a comprehensive plan to address this, while adolescents interviewed by Spotlight say they need more education on sex and HIV prevention methods. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.

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In-depth: Critical medicine priced out of reach for people with cryptococcal meningitis

In-depth: Critical medicine priced out of reach for people with cryptococcal meningitis

By Catherine Tomlinson,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Latest

Cryptococcal meningitis is the second top killer of people living with HIV in South Africa. In the second of a two-part series on access to treatment for the condition, Catherine Tomlinson puts the Spotlight on the drug liposomal amphotericin B (part one looked at flucytosine).

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Opinion: District hospitals will be key to NHI, empower them

Opinion: District hospitals will be key to NHI, empower them

By Russell Rensburg and Claire Botha,
Posted in: Latest, NHI

The successful implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) will rely heavily on effective governance at district level. The NHI Bill correctly identifies district hospitals as key during the early transitional NHI phases. Failing to capacitate them for the challenges ahead could prove disastrous, argues Russell Rensburg and Claire Botha.

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Promising early signs from mobile X-ray TB screening pilots

Promising early signs from mobile X-ray TB screening pilots

By Tiyese Jeranji,
Posted in: Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Latest, Provinces, Western Cape

One of the key recommendations from the National TB Prevalence Survey released last year was to increase “access to TB screening and testing services through outreach programmes using mobile testing and X-ray facilities”. Tiyese Jeranji takes stock of the number of mobile X-ray vans and containers across the country and plans to scale up their use.

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Cutting-edge cancer treatment may have potential for HIV

Cutting-edge cancer treatment may have potential for HIV

By Elri Voigt,
Posted in: Latest

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have mainly been making headlines as a cutting-edge form of cancer treatment. Recently, however, presentations on CARs have been given at HIV conferences. Elri Voigt asks what CARs actually are and how they might one day be used to treat HIV.

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In-depth: What the approval of flucytosine means for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis in SA

In-depth: What the approval of flucytosine means for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis in SA

By Catherine Tomlinson,
Posted in: Latest

After seemingly endless delays, a critically important drug for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis was recently approved in South Africa. Yet, while the approval of flucytosine was a major step forward, much more still needs to be done to ensure wide availability of this life-saving medicine for the second leading killer of people living with HIV. Catherine Tomlinson unpacks the details.

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Concern over safety at Free State healthcare facilities

Concern over safety at Free State healthcare facilities

By Refilwe Mochoari,
Posted in: Free State, Latest, Provinces

Amid several reports of assault on healthcare workers and robberies at health facilities in the Free State, many healthcare workers are fearing for their safety. Refilwe Mochoari visited some of these ‘hotspots’ to see what security measures are in place and spoke to healthcare workers and health authorities about their security and safety concerns.

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In-depth: Is pain management in SA up to scratch?

In-depth: Is pain management in SA up to scratch?

By Elsabé Brits,
Posted in: Access to Medicines, Latest

Many people in South Africa unnecessarily suffer from chronic pain due to system failures, poor access to expensive medicines, and lack of sufficient medical education on pain management. What’s worse is that even though morphine is cheap and easy to administer – those who do need palliative care often don’t receive it. Elsabé Brits takes an in-depth look at how we deal with pain in South Africa.

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More severe flu season expected, but not yet back to pre-COVID-19 levels

More severe flu season expected, but not yet back to pre-COVID-19 levels

By Adele Baleta,
Posted in: Latest

Health experts expect this year’s flu season in South Africa to be far less severe than flu seasons prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but more severe than last year. Adele Baleta reports on the reasons for thinking this and what we know about this year’s flu vaccines and their efficacy.

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Opinion: Time to take clean indoor air as seriously as we take clean water

Opinion: Time to take clean indoor air as seriously as we take clean water

By Wieda Human, Ingrid Schoeman, Ruvandhi Nathavitharana, Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen, and Ananja van der Westhuizen,
Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, TB

Wieda Human, Ingrid Schoeman, Ruvandhi Nathavitharana, Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen, and Ananja van der Westhuizen from TB Proof argue that we need to look upstream for solutions to improve indoor air quality.

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Poor security and water shortages undermining healthcare in Mpumalanga

Poor security and water shortages undermining healthcare in Mpumalanga

By Nthusang Lefafa,
Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, Mpumalanga, Provinces

The Mpumalanga Department of Health is plagued by many challenges ranging from water shortages affecting some of its health facilities, poor medicine distribution, and a spate of assaults and robberies putting healthcare workers at risk. Nthusang Lefafa spoke to unions, opposition parties, and the department about these ongoing challenges and plans to address them.

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