With South Africa’s healthcare system facing a myriad challenges, experts at a health conference have put forward a range of practical solutions to address some of the country’s pressing issues. Ufrieda Ho rounds up some of the proposed solutions to improve patient care, including the use of public-private partnerships.
ANC support in Gauteng dipped below 40% in the recent provincial elections and an ANC-lead minority government is now at the helm. Among those in Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s new Cabinet is Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko who’s been reappointed as MEC for health and wellness. Spotlight’s Ufrieda Ho rounds up some responses to her return.
In this hard-hitting open letter, SECTION27, Cancer Alliance and TAC activists argue that the Gauteng Department of Health has failed in fulfilling its obligations to provide radiation oncology services while over 3 000 cancer patients wait for treatment.
It is almost three months since – partly through the efforts of SECTION27 and Cancer Alliance – money was made available to the Gauteng Health Department to outsource radiation oncology services and address surgical backlogs in the province. It is deeply worrying that despite being provided with resources for this outsourcing project, very little has been done to date to ensure that patients get the long overdue care that they need, writes Khanyisa Mapipa.
The World Health Organization in February this year said that an estimated 1.1 million new cancer cases are being reported in Africa each year with around 700 000 deaths from cancer. A recent report provides important new data on cancer in South Africa, but the picture remains incomplete. Ufrieda Ho reports.
On 8 March 2023, the Gauteng MEC for Finance delivered his budget speech in which he indicated that an amount of R784 million has been set aside for the provincial health department to “address backlogs in surgical and radiation oncology services” in Gauteng. Khanyisa Mapipa and Salomé Meyer reflect on the work done to get to this point.
A potentially life-saving or life-extending breast cancer medicine is available to public sector patients in several of South Africa’s provinces, but not in the Western Cape. Elri Voigt asks what is behind the Western Cape government’s decision.
For many cancer activists, cancer patients, and their families the radiation oncology challenges in Gauteng have reached a crisis point. Many believe this oncology crisis is allowed to escalate in the absence of tangible proactive action by the Gauteng government. In this case, no news is not good news, writes Warren Potter as he asks Gauteng Health MEC, Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi for answers.
In 2014, South Africa launched an HPV vaccination campaign targeting 9-year-old public school learners in Grade 4. It involves delivering two doses of vaccine six months apart. Laura Owings asks how the campaign is going and what recent real-world HPV vaccine effectiveness data from the United Kingdom might mean for South Africa.
The reopening of the oncology section of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital on Monday 28 June 2021 offers a glimmer of hope for cancer patients in South Gauteng but the stark reality is that many will still not be able to access lifesaving treatment immediately, writes Salomé Meyer.
Four years ago, the virtual collapse of cancer services in KwaZulu-Natal saw some desperate patients move to Gauteng for care. Now, a new crisis is again prompting those who can, to relocate for treatment. Laura Lopez Gonzalez reports.
