Dr Nicholas Crisp is a deputy director-general in the National Department of Health and the person responsible for coordinating South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Crisp spoke to Chris Bateman about challenges with the rollout and his wife and daughters getting sick with COVID-19.
Most pregnant women in South Africa will have to wait at least another month for a potentially life-saving COVID-19 jab. Chris Bateman takes a look at what we do and do not know about COVID-19 and its impact on pregnant women or those planning to get pregnant, and when it is safest for such women to get vaccinated.
In what Spotlight understands to be a world-first, South Africa is on the brink of allowing pharmacists with the required permits to prescribe HIV medicines without people first having to get a script from a doctor or nurse. Catherine Tomlinson investigates how it will work and why it may be just the boost the country’s HIV response needs.
The treatment of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis has been transformed over the last decade with treatment becoming more effective, safer, and treatment duration in many cases dropping to under a year. Even so, treatment can still come with serious side effects and for some, it can still last over a year and a half. In a finding that may help further reduce side effects, new research has found that the dosage of a key drug can be lowered without compromising how well it works. Tiyese Jeranji and Marcus Low report.
While COVID-19 cases are surging in South Africa off the back of the dominant Delta variant, the flu virus has virtually vanished. Only 50 influenza cases have been detected so far this year through the country’s influenza monitoring system. Adele Baleta unpacks what is going on.
This week’s unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng has disrupted both medicines distribution and laboratory services. Thabo Molelekwa reports.
As the third wave of COVID-19 infections continues in Gauteng, hospitals remain under severe strain due to staff and equipment shortages. Add to this the ongoing unrest in certain areas in Gauteng, and it makes for a very grim picture. Thabo Molelekwa reports on the situation in East Rand hospitals.
Every now and again people in South Africa have to endure a few weeks of mostly scheduled power cuts. Because power cuts can be deadly in hospitals, most facilities have backup systems in place. Tiyese Jeranji investigates how it all works and what safeguards are in place to prevent the lights from going out while you are on the theatre table.
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.
There was a discernible shift towards vaccine acceptance in April and May compared to the preceding two months, according to the latest findings from the NIDS-CRAM survey.
With the 1 July opening of registration for those aged 50-59, over 4.8 million more people can now register on South Africa’s Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS). They will join a few million people before them in providing personal information including their names, ID numbers, cell phone numbers, and medical aid numbers if applicable. Laura Owings asks how safe your data is on the EVDS.
New research published in the South African Medical Journal has found compelling evidence that a blanket ban on alcohol reduces the number of unnatural deaths related to trauma injuries while curfews have less of an impact. Adele Baleta spoke to lead author, Professor Tom Moultrie.
