Morphine shortages leave patients in pain
South Africa has only one public sector supplier of resized packages of morphine powder and the company’s failure to deliver since July has left some patients in unspeakable agony. Ufrieda Ho reports.
In-depth: What’s behind the increase in malnutrition deaths among Free State infants?
When Free State Health MEC Montseng Tsiu took to the podium in April this year to deliver her budget speech, she said there was an increase in deaths of children under five mostly due to severe acute malnutrition which has increased from 3.1% in the 2020/21 financial year to 9.6% in 2021/22. This meant of all the children admitted to the province’s hospitals for acute malnutrition, 48 died in 2020/21 and 86 in 2021/22. Refilwe Mochoari unpacks the numbers and asked authorities, experts, and community leaders what can be done.
In-depth: Have 4 years of administration reduced medicine stockouts in North West?
Public healthcare facilities in the North West have been plagued by chronic medicines stockouts for years. Now, as the province’s health department is again taking the reins after four years under administration by the National Department of Health, Nthusang Lefafa asks what progress has or has not been made in that most basic of healthcare functions, providing people with the medicines they need.
Rural Doctor of the Year: Craig Parker – the doctor-engineer who created a COVID lifeline for rural areas
A trained engineer and medical doctor, Dr Craig Parker created an oxygen device that was an important lifeline to patients in rural Eastern Cape at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month at the Rural Health Conference in Oudtshoorn, Parker received the Rural Doctor of the Year Award for 2022. Bienne Huisman chatted to Parker about the device and his life as a rural doctor.
Opinion: Better data is first step in improving services for persons with disabilities
South Africa ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in 2007 – but the data needed to track the implementation of the convention in South Africa is often incomparable across sectors, of low quality, or completely lacking. This limits civil society’s ability to hold the government accountable and makes it impossible to ensure equity for marginalised groups in how government plans, budgets, and implements services, argues Rural Rehab South Africa’s outgoing chair, Maryke Bezuidenhout.
In-depth: Why only some public sector patients can access a key breast cancer drug
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.
In-depth: What is behind the Eastern Cape’s nurse training crisis?
Lecturers doing administrative work, nursing student accommodation found to be uninhabitable, frequent break-ins at some campuses, an exodus of staff since 2017, and some campuses with no students – are among the challenges at Lilitha nursing college in the Eastern Cape that the provincial legislature’s health committee flagged after an oversight visit. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
From Cameroonian village to Stellenbosch Professor – top TB researcher reflects on a remarkable journey
When Novel Chegou first arrived in Stellenbosch from Cameroon in 2004 he sold African crafts at a stall next to the town’s village green to save money for his studies. Today, Professor Chegou is one of South Africa’s leading tuberculosis researchers. Biénne Huisman caught up with Chegou shortly after the announcement that he had been awarded the Royal Society Africa Prize.
Healthcare problems persist at ‘ideal clinics’, studies show
The ideal clinic programme has been one of government’s key healthcare interventions in recent years. An extensive review conducted of the initiative in Gauteng suggests that outcomes are mixed. Elri Voigt reports on findings from four studies on the programme presented at last week’s Public Health Association of South Africa conference in Durban.
TB treatment to be shortened to 4 months for most kids
South Africa last published comprehensive guidelines for the management of childhood tuberculosis (TB) in 2013. Almost a decade later, the guidelines are being updated to recommend a shortened TB treatment regimen for most children with pulmonary TB. Catherine Tomlinson reports.
As testing volumes improve, government outlines TB recovery plan
South Africa’s tuberculosis (TB) testing numbers have recovered from dramatic declines in 2020, delegates heard at the opening of the 7th South African TB Conference in Durban. The Department of Health also provided some details of its TB recovery plans and targets. Tiyese Jeranji reports from Durban.
COVID-19: Binning of jabs a ‘shocking indictment’ of vaccination campaign, says health expert
COVID-19 vaccine doses destined to be binned next month are “a shocking indictment” and questions need to be asked about just how effective the country’s vaccination drive has been, some public health experts say. Ufrieda Ho reports.
