Medical aid schemes will be given collective power to negotiate prices, according to draft regulations published last week. While some see the move as an important step toward reining in private healthcare prices, others argue that they do not go far enough and are legally unsound. Chris Bateman spoke to several leading experts about the proposed reforms.
Cuts to United States spending on aid and medical research have caused widespread havoc and anxiety in the last month. Professor Tulio de Oliveira sat down with Spotlight’s Biénne Huisman to talk through what it might mean for health research in South Africa.
Despite a waiver on life-saving humanitarian aid, USAID funding for crucial medical services remains frozen. Services remain closed as organisations await approval of revised budgets limited to what is allowed under the waiver. A separate US agency – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – restored funding to its beneficiary organisations, allowing them to reopen thanks to a US court judgment.
In the first of a new series of monthly columns for Spotlight, Dr Andy Gray considers what we mean when we refer to medicines as ‘essential’ – something that is routinely done by the WHO and the health authorities in many countries.
A US-funded health facility in Pretoria shut its doors for over two weeks after an executive order by President Trump paused funding. A beneficiary of the centre, who is HIV-positive, said that he hadn’t taken his ARVs in roughly two weeks due to the closure. Many were in the same predicament. The health centre reopened on 13 February after funding resumed.
South Africa’s National Department of Health is still to outline a clear contingency plan as a US funding freeze puts lives at risk, spells job losses, and presents threats to keeping HIV and TB under control. Ufrieda Ho reports.
Cuts to United States funding of health research could have “catastrophic” consequences, says Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, who is at the helm of the country’s primary health research funder. He says the South African Medical Research Council is “heavily exposed” to the cuts, with around 28% of its budget coming from US federal agencies. Catherine Tomlinson reports.
The remarkable efficacy of new diabetes and weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro have been one of the biggest health stories of recent years. Despite rising rates of diabetes and obesity, access to these medicines remain limited in South Africa. Catherine Tomlinson asks which of the GLP-1 agonists are available here and at what price.
A timely report on governance in South Africa’s healthcare sector released last year identified several serious shortcomings. As the political and administrative wheels again start turning in 2025, Elri Voigt unpacks the report and asks if government is paying attention.
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.
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.
In 2023, tuberculosis was again the top infectious disease killer on the planet, having temporarily been overtaken by COVID-19. Even so, investment in TB research is far below what United Nations agencies estimate is needed. Catherine Tomlinson unpacks a new report on global TB research funding, zooming in on the situation in South Africa.