The delivery of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available in South Africa will be a complex and costly logistical exercise. Acquiring enough injection devices is part of crucial logistical planning to ensure rapid, equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Adele Baleta reports.
Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Sihle Zikhalala praised the Umkhanyakude District recently on its ‘exceptional’ figures in meeting the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. Yet, when Spotlight recently visited the Jozini area, we were confronted with a less rosy picture. Some people stopped their HIV treatment because they do not have food to eat, and activists now warn that the progress with the targets can be derailed if poverty, hunger and other social determinants of health are not urgently and comprehensively addressed. Nomfundo Xolo reports.
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.
South Africa is set to produce its first vaccine in 25 years, but it won’t be a COVID-19 jab. Plans are however in place to “fill and finish” COVID-19 vaccines in South Africa. Laura Lopez Gonzalez has the details.
Three years ago, public sector cancer services made headlines for failing patients in multiple provinces. A few government interventions later, experts say there have been improvements, but significant issues remain. Elna Schütz reports.
In August last year, the South African Pollen Monitoring Network expanded pollen monitoring efforts in the country. The data now being collected can assist researchers, doctors, and people with pollen allergies. Elri Voigt explores these efforts and the impact pollen has on the lives of people in South Africa.
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.
The Lancet medical journal last week released its 2020 Countdown on Health and Climate Change Report which highlights the worsening global climate crisis and how it impacts human health. Kathryn Cleary spoke to an environmental health expert about the implications of the report’s findings for South Africa.
It is more than a year since Spotlight visited the Xhora Mouth area in the Eastern Cape to report on the locals’ challenges in accessing health care services. Now, a year later, not much has changed. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
Despite glaring poverty and the high unemployment rate plaguing the village of Ngquthu near Dutywa in the Amathole district in the Eastern Cape, villagers pulled together their resources to refurbish what was once a preschool into a community health facility. The community took their access to healthcare into their own hands after complaints over the long distance and residents who, on the way to the nearest clinic, fell victim to a spate of rapes and muggings. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
Children shoulder approximately 12% of the global TB burden, and this proportion is likely higher in high TB burden countries. In South Africa, up to 30 000 children develop TB each year. Tiyese Jeranji spoke to TB expert, Dr Megan Palmer from Brooklyn Chest Hospital about treatment challenges and how to improve TB detection and treatment outcomes in children.
On Tuesday South Africa commemorated World AIDS Day in Soweto under the theme: We’re in the together, Cheka Impilo. Spotlight photographer Denvor De Wee was there to capture the event in pictures.
