Diabetes is a leading killer in SA – yet we don’t know who has it or where they are

Diabetes is a leading killer in SA – yet we don’t know who has it or where they are

Diabetes is the second leading cause of death in South Africa after tuberculosis, according to Statistics South Africa. It is the leading cause of death in women. Yet, despite being a major driver of deaths and illness, we do not have a clear picture of how many people in the country have diabetes or how many people are receiving diabetes care. This leaves our health system ill-equipped to handle the growing diabetes crisis.

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Codeine misuse: South Africa set to get new guidelines

Codeine misuse: South Africa set to get new guidelines

In response to high levels of codeine abuse in South Africa, health authorities have been developing a plan to track the supply of the drug from manufacturers all the way to patients. In this Spotlight feature, Jesse Copelyn explores why people get hooked on codeine, and how the new project could combat the problem.

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SA’s flu rates anticipated to return to pre-COVID-19 levels

SA’s flu rates anticipated to return to pre-COVID-19 levels

COVID-19-related factors resulted in several years of lower-than-normal rates of the flu, but experts say that is now something of the past. As this year’s flu season gets under way, Elri Voigt asks several local experts what their expectations are, which flu vaccines are available this year, and whether we should be concerned about new strains of bird flu.

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Chronic kidney disease rates have dropped in people with HIV, but late diagnosis remains a serious problem

Chronic kidney disease rates have dropped in people with HIV, but late diagnosis remains a serious problem

Elri Voigt unpacks the complex effect that HIV has on the kidneys, how HIV and chronic kidney disease has evolved after the roll out of anti-retroviral treatment, and what the situation is now in the country for people living with HIV and chronic kidney disease.

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Health services in the Eastern Cape: What changed since the last elections?

Health services in the Eastern Cape: What changed since the last elections?

Luvuyo Mehlwana looks back at the performance of public healthcare services in the Eastern Cape over the last five years – a term characterised by leadership instability, infrastructure problems, financial short-falls, and of course the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Dramatic decline in condom distribution in SA, new figures show

Dramatic decline in condom distribution in SA, new figures show

Condom distribution in South Africa has dropped dramatically over the last five years, finds a Spotlight analysis of data recently published in the Health System Trust’s District Health Barometer.

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New TB drug shows promise, but experimental vaccine disappoints

New TB drug shows promise, but experimental vaccine disappoints

While three new tuberculosis (TB) medicines have been registered in South Africa over the last decade, TB treatment still comes with several side effects and requires taking multiple different medicines, typically for six or more months. The search for better TB medicines got a boost last week with the presentation of promising findings from a study conducted in South Africa on an experimental drug called quabodepistat. Elri Voigt reports on this and other TB studies presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver, Colorado.

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Evelyn Thsehla | Effective reduction to health promotion levy undermines diabetes response

Evelyn Thsehla | Effective reduction to health promotion levy undermines diabetes response

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.

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A year after a damning report, some green shoots at Rahima Moosa Hospital

A year after a damning report, some green shoots at Rahima Moosa Hospital

Spotlight visits Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital and sees progress for the struggling hospital but also the reality that there’s a long road ahead to undo what a health ombud report suggests has been years of neglect and poor management.

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