Opinion: President Ramaphosa, we still don’t have ambulances in Xhora Mouth

Opinion: President Ramaphosa, we still don’t have ambulances in Xhora Mouth

Six years after the South African Human Rights Commission held hearings into access to emergency medical services in the Eastern Cape little has changed for the people of Xhora Mouth, writes Phumzile Msaro.

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Analysis: High turn-over in Health MECs continues

Analysis: High turn-over in Health MECs continues

After the 2019 elections, new MECs for Health (provincial ministers) were appointed in four of South Africa’s nine provinces. Less than two years later, three of the four are no longer in their jobs, writes Marcus Low.

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Eastern Cape: Questions over vaccine readiness in rural areas

Eastern Cape: Questions over vaccine readiness in rural areas

The shortcomings of healthcare services in the rural Eastern Cape is well documented. Now, with provinces gearing up for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Luvuyo Mehlwana asked local health activists and government leaders about the rollout plan for rural communities in the province.

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Reimagining health in the Eastern Cape: As budgets shrink, it is more important than ever to strengthen primary healthcare

Reimagining health in the Eastern Cape: As budgets shrink, it is more important than ever to strengthen primary healthcare

As the final negotiations in the 2021 budget process unfold, the government of the Eastern Cape and the department of health in particular are being asked to do more with less. It is now more urgent than ever to strengthen public primary health care, argue Ektaa Deochand and Russell Rensburg.

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EMS and clinic woes continue for the people of Xhora Mouth in Eastern Cape

EMS and clinic woes continue for the people of Xhora Mouth in Eastern Cape

It is more than a year since Spotlight visited the Xhora Mouth area in the Eastern Cape to report on the locals’ challenges in accessing health care services. Now, a year later, not much has changed. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.

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Fed-up community in rural Eastern Cape starts their own health facility

Fed-up community in rural Eastern Cape starts their own health facility

Despite glaring poverty and the high unemployment rate plaguing the village of Ngquthu near Dutywa in the Amathole district in the Eastern Cape, villagers pulled together their resources to refurbish what was once a preschool into a community health facility. The community took their access to healthcare into their own hands after complaints over the long distance and residents who, on the way to the nearest clinic, fell victim to a spate of rapes and muggings. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.

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Reimagining healthcare in the Eastern Cape: Back to Basics is the right medicine to fix stockouts

Reimagining healthcare in the Eastern Cape: Back to Basics is the right medicine to fix stockouts

Medicine stockouts can have dire consequences. Tendai Mafuma and Ruth Dube look at lessons learnt over the years on how to help prevent medicine stockouts and argue that although the interventions are not new, if implemented it could help solve the vicious cycle of medicine stockouts in the Eastern Cape.

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Reimagining health in the Eastern Cape: A dysfunctional public health system is not inevitable

Reimagining health in the Eastern Cape: A dysfunctional public health system is not inevitable

The persistent challenges in public health in the Eastern Cape, highlight the critical role of leadership. Prof Helen Schneider argues if we are to reimagine a future of access, equity and justice in health and health care in the Eastern Cape, we need bottom-up institution-building involving civil society and not just top-down legislative, budgetary and other reforms.

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When kids go hungry: What happens when school meals stop?

When kids go hungry: What happens when school meals stop?

For over 9 million learners across the country, school meals are a lifeline, but this came to a grinding halt during the hard COVID-19 lockdown period. As a result, many learners became dependent on soup kitchens and donations. In the fourth part of a six-part series on child hunger and nutrition, Kathryn Cleary speaks to learners about how they were affected and how some organisations are fighting for improvements.

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Reimagining health in the Eastern Cape: CHWs are key to improving health outcomes

Reimagining health in the Eastern Cape: CHWs are key to improving health outcomes

Community Health Workers (CHWs) are an important element in the government’s re-engineering of primary health care strategy. Here Melanie Alperstein and Tinashe Njanji highlight the challenges CHWs in the Eastern Cape face and offer some solutions to improve the working conditions of CHWs and improve health outcomes in the province.

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When kids go hungry: Fighting for solutions in the ECD sector

When kids go hungry: Fighting for solutions in the ECD sector

Early childhood development programmes have a huge role to play in the lives of young children, including in their nutrition. In the third part of a six-part series on child hunger, Kathryn Cleary investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on these programmes, and how some organisations are fighting for solutions.

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Eastern Cape government mum on TB plans and numbers

Eastern Cape government mum on TB plans and numbers

Numbers from the National Institute of Communicable Disease and from some provinces show that TB diagnoses have dropped dramatically in 2020 – likely due to COVID-19 and the related lockdown. The Eastern Cape Department of Health has however declined to share information on the TB situation in the province and their catch-up plans. Some activists are concerned about the situation. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.

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