It isn’t always easy to know what to believe when it comes to cancer. In part 2 of a Daily Maverick and Spotlight special series on cancer, Biénne Huisman asks whether cancer cases are on the increase in South Africa, and why. On the way, she visits academic corridors and a Limpopo citrus orchard, all while trying to make sense of the available data.
Two women, two breast cancer journeys. In the first article of a new Daily Maverick and Spotlight special series on cancer in South Africa, Biénne Huisman speaks with rugby referee Aimee Barrett-Theron and cancer warrior Joyce Witbooi, who helps women navigate Cape Town’s public health system.
Propelled by an early vision to help others, Dr Abba Mallum tells Biénne Huisman about his roots in Borno State, about opportunities in Stellenbosch and Durban, and about his pioneering PhD in radiotherapy and oncology.
In part 3 of a Spotlight special series on the role of new weight loss medicines like Ozempic in South Africa, we ask what these breakthrough jabs might mean for people living with HIV in the country. There is some tantalising early research on potential benefits, but also many uncertainties. Catherine Tomlinson reports.
In South Africa, access to weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro remains limited to those who can shell out a few thousand Rand a month. In the second article of a Spotlight special series, Catherine Tomlinson looks at the medical need for these medicines in the country and what it would take for government to provide them in the public sector.
Sales of weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro have sky-rocketed in South Africa in recent years, although they remain too expensive for most people who might benefit from the jabs. In the first article of this Spotlight special series, Catherine Tomlinson tracks their remarkable rise and assesses when they will become more widely available here.
Getting to grips with rising diabetes rates is arguably one of the most urgent tasks for South Africa’s public healthcare system, but the setbacks keep coming. While some communities are facing shortages of blood sugar meters and insulin pens, a smaller wave of insulin vial shortages is now on the horizon, reports Joan van Dyk.
South Africa has the world’s largest population of people living with HIV, which both heightens the risk of anal cancers and their severity. However, neither the collection of data nor the efforts for prevention and screening are in line with the likely impact. Experts say significant change is needed, reports Elna Schütz.
Experts say cancer patients in the public sector in South Africa are dying for avoidable reasons like dysfunctional referral systems and a lack of medical imaging and treatment. Chris Bateman looks at efforts to get the country’s battle with cancer back on track.
Non-communicable diseases are killing more and more people in South Africa yet the government missed out on raising a total of more than R15 billion for prevention efforts, argues Dr Evelyn Thsehla.
There are significant gaps in the data when it comes to understanding South Africa’s cancer burden. Things are however set to improve with an initiative that will allow members of the public to assist in data gathering. Elri Voigt reports on a new patient-led cancer registry that will feed into South Africa’s existing National Cancer Registry.
With the remarkable success of antiretroviral treatment people living with HIV in South Africa are generally living much longer than they did two decades ago. As a result, more people with HIV are also now living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and hypertension. Accordingly, the need to better integrate HIV and NCD services was a hot topic at the recent Southern African HIV Clinicians Society conference in Cape Town. Elri Voigt reports.