In response to US funding cuts for South African health services and research projects, National Treasury has provided the National Department of Health with hundreds of millions of rands in emergency funds. Spotlight and GroundUp look at how precisely the government intends to spend this money.
When Karen Mara Moss’ son was diagnosed with clubfoot, she travelled to the US in search of a life-changing treatment. She made a promise to bring it home and two decades on, her non-profit is at the heart of a remarkable success story.
With humour, warmth and steely resolve, Princess Anne-Sheilah Makhado speaks to Biénne Huisman about her long journey as a nurse, of creating solutions in the public health system, and her burning passion for motivating women and girls to unlock their talents.
The Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro medical training programme has been controversial from the start. It’s had high points, low points and many say it should have an end point, writes Ufrieda Ho.
An HIV prevention pill that could provide a month of protection per tablet has been given the green light to proceed to pivotal trials to test its efficacy. Elri Voigt reports on new findings on the pill that were presented at the International AIDS Conference.
Over a long and distinguished career, Professor Susan Fawcus has become known for her work trying to reduce the deaths of mothers and babies in South Africa. In her home in Cape Town, the soft-spoken champion for health equity chats with Spotlight about her journey as a researcher, doctor, and obstetrician, and shares her fears of rising maternal mortality in an age of austerity.
Spotlight and GroundUp published a two-part exposé showing how US aid cuts led to the deaths of children in Mozambique. Here, Jesse Copelyn considers what led to this tragedy and who should bear responsibility for it.
South Africa is staging a sequel to Mbeki-era denialism, only this time, the science, solutions, and costs are clearer, argues Professor Francois Venter.
South Africa still lacks an action plan after the withdrawal of US aid for HIV and related health services. But when funds do arrive, how will they be managed? Russell Rensburg suggests the answer may lie in the District Health Programme Grant.
After the abrupt termination of American aid, the health system in central Mozambique descended into chaos. In part two of this special series, Spotlight and GroundUp describe how the funding cuts affected hospitals, where key staff were dismissed and deliveries of new medicines were halted. In the ensuing turmoil, children died.
In Mozambique, the health system is overwhelmingly built on US money. When the Trump administration instantly pulled much of this funding without warning, disease and death spread. Spotlight and GroundUp visited one of the worst affected regions to describe the human toll.
When Desmond Pedro discovered a strange hardness under his ribcage, he was just 30 and preparing for a fresh start on a government skills course. Little did he know that he would soon die of liver cancer caused by undetected hepatitis B. Sue Segar spent time with his family and spoke to experts to uncover how this overlooked virus continues to claim lives — and what can be done to stop it.
