Interactive Data Dashboards
Live indicators, province breakdowns and downloadable data.
To see National Health Insurance primarily as the setting up of a state-run medical aid scheme risks underplaying its massive potential to restructure how public healthcare services are organised and funded, and with that, its potential to boost the delivery of primary healthcare services in South Africa, argues Russell Rensburg.
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The National Health Insurance Act does not deal with the systemic issues that cause high prices and inequity in medicine access, and government is not listening, argues Fatima Hassan.
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Stopping antiretroviral treatment when you are living with HIV can result in increased HIV transmission, illness, hospitalisation, and eventually death. To combat such disengagement with HIV treatment, Professor Graeme Meintjes and colleagues argue we need smarter differentiated care and better education of healthcare workers, people living with HIV, and communities.
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South Africa has the third highest suicide rate in Africa and Africa has higher rates of suicide than any other continent. In the wake of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th, clinical psychologist Vincenzo Sinisi asks what can be done to bring down suicide rates.
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The ongoing psychological, functional, and aesthetic challenges experienced by people with cleft lip and palate underscore the need for an individualised, lifelong, and multidisciplinary approach to managing the condition, argues Kholofelo Mphahlele.
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The lack of access to essential healthcare services in rural areas worsens the challenges women face, particularly when it comes to early pregnancy and gender-based violence. Celene Coleman and Hanifa Mahlangu argue for strategies that prioritise the empowerment of rural women through improved access to contraception and mental health services.
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A Competition Commission probe recently resulted in a patent on an important tuberculosis medicine being dropped in South Africa. Twenty years ago, a similar Competition Commission case resulted in a settlement that helped drive down the prices of several antiretrovirals, thereby helping to set the stage for the country’s HIV treatment programme. Fatima Hassan and…
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Despite South Africa producing a substantial number of trained optometrists, the majority of them work in the private sector and in urban areas. This imbalance leaves rural communities underserved and exacerbates health inequities. Does it make sense for us to use public funds and institutions to train people predominantly for the private sector, ask Dr…
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Gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth has sparked intense debate globally. In South Africa, we need to significantly improve accessibility throughout the country, ensure services are well-resourced, include trained healthcare providers skilled in gender affirming care, and offer comprehensive care that integrates mental health and social services, write Jenna-Lee de Beer-Procter and Pierre Brouard, on behalf…
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In this open letter to Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla, TB activists call for the disease to be made a political priority and demand multisectoral departmental accountability. They outline six demands for implementation by the end of this year. The letter was submitted on the final day of the South African TB Conference being…
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President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed the NHI Bill into law. The question is whether this will bring South Africa closer towards Universal Health Coverage. Professor Susan Cleary argues that the NHI is a wide ranging reform with both positive and controversial aspects. The key will be to find a middle ground in order to continue…
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The question as to the best approach to providing care for children and young people with gender dysphoria or gender incongruence is complex, contested, and controversial, both in South Africa and globally. Following the release of a major new report in the United Kingdom, it is clear that a change of course is needed in…
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