Opinion: Could community health workers be the answer to reducing Tuberculosis stigma?

Posted in: Latest, TB, TB

Tuberculosis stigma thrives when TB is spoken about in hushed whispers, or behind closed doors. The truth is anyone who breathes can get TB as it is an airborne disease like COVID-19. We can all reduce the harmful effect of TB stigma in our communities by taking part in activities that break down false and unfair attitudes towards people with TB. Community health workers are leading the way and deserve more support, write authors from TB Proof.

Opinion: Could community health workers be the answer to reducing Tuberculosis stigma?

Confusion over healthcare worker contracts in the Eastern Cape

Posted in: COVID-19, Latest

Thousands of healthcare contract workers in the Eastern Cape Department of Health face an uncertain future over the continued extension of their contracts. This follows two conflicting decisions on ending contracts of workers roped in February last year to help in the fight against COVID-19 in the province. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.

Confusion over healthcare worker contracts in the Eastern Cape

In-depth: Can CHWs help expand access to mental health services in SA?

Posted in: Latest, Mental Health

Over 30% of those living in South Africa have experienced a depressive, anxiety, or substance use disorder in their lifetime, according to a national survey. Yet studies show only 15% of those with mental health conditions receive treatment. Laura Owings explores what role community healthcare workers can play in addressing this lack of access to care.

In-depth: Can CHWs help expand access to mental health services in SA?

COVID-19: A frontline view of vaccination efforts in the rural Eastern Cape

Posted in: COVID-19, Eastern Cape, Latest, Provinces

By 13 June official statistics from the Department of Health showed 382 255 people 60 years and older in the Eastern Cape registered for COVID-19 vaccination. So far, 114 661 of them received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Luvuyo Mehlwana visited some rural areas to see how registration and vaccination are going.

COVID-19: A frontline view of vaccination efforts in the rural Eastern Cape

COVID-19: What provinces have planned for older persons

Posted in: COVID-19, Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Latest, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Northern Cape, Provinces, Western Cape

Phase II of South Africa’s vaccination rollout has started. Elri Voigt unpacks how provinces will go about vaccinating those aged 60 and older.

COVID-19: What provinces have planned for older persons

Eastern Cape: Questions over vaccine readiness in rural areas

Posted in: Eastern Cape, Latest, Provinces

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.

Eastern Cape: Questions over vaccine readiness in rural areas

COVID-19: Will the right people get the vaccine first in SA?

Posted in: Latest

While local experts generally welcome the order in which vaccines will be provided to different categories of people in South Africa, they are concerned that some practical nuances are unclear. Elna Schütz reports.

COVID-19: Will the right people get the vaccine first in SA?

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

Posted in: Child health, Eastern Cape, Edition 13: Eastern Cape Health, Edition 6: HIV & teens, Edition 7: TB, Edition 8: NSP in general, Healthcare system, HIV/AIDS, Latest, Provinces

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.

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

In-depth: Getting Gauteng’s HIV and TB response back on track

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 12: SA’s AIDS & TB response, Edition 7: TB, Edition 9: State of HIV, Gauteng, Latest, Provinces, TB

From March to July this year, the Gauteng Department of Health recorded 57 848 TB tests – a decrease of about 30 000 tests compared to the same period last year. The province performed better with HIV testing, although the HIV response has faltered in other areas. Melissa Javan makes sense of the province’s numbers and speaks to activists and community health workers about the impact of lockdown on their services and plans to get things back on track.

In-depth: Getting Gauteng’s HIV and TB response back on track

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

Posted in: Eastern Cape, Healthcare system, Latest

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.

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

OP-ED: Underpaid and Unprotected -The case for supporting Community Health Workers

Posted in: Eastern Cape, Free State, Healthcare Workers, Latest, Northern Cape, Provinces

If we are serious about Universal Health Care, we need to match the commitment shown by community health workers (CHWs). Not only must their contribution to the pandemic response be adequately recognised, but CHWs deserve a say in health policymaking and implementation that affects them, the authors argue.

OP-ED: Underpaid and Unprotected -The case for supporting Community Health Workers

SA is facing a healthcare worker crisis – What to do?

Posted in: Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest, NHI, Spotlight on NHI

Many healthcare workers are rightly identified as heroes of South Africa’s COVID-19 response. Yet, often healthcare workers are given very little support in the public healthcare system, something that may get worse as healthcare worker shortages get more acute in the coming years. Kathryn Cleary investigates.