In South Africa, many mothers and their babies have to visit the clinic more than 10 times in the first six months of the postnatal period. Early findings from an ongoing implementation science project suggests we can get this down to five. The hope is that the new approach will also help reduce HIV transmission from mothers to their babies. Elri Voigt reports.
The Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro medical training programme has been controversial from the start. It’s had high points, low points and many say it should have an end point, writes Ufrieda Ho.
Following South Africa’s 2024 national and provincial elections, the decisions about the top health jobs in the country’s nine provinces have now all been made. Elri Voigt rounds up the appointments.
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.
A company headquartered in Johannesburg will start making flexible silicone rings to protect women from HIV. The move signals a strong vote of confidence in an African firm to supply the ring at adequate scale and affordable prices, and a crucial step to making the continent self-reliant, reports Catherine Tomlinson.
There’s a resurgence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in South Africa and around the world. The Gauteng Department of Health recently reported an increase of newly acquired STIs, in particular gonorrhoea and chlamydia. This spike in cases call for management guidelines and awareness programmes to be reviewed, reports Ufrieda Ho.
The Gauteng Department of Health has struggled this year to ensure that patients in the province’s hospitals always have the food they need. Now a decision to source food for Gauteng hospitals via a government contract in Limpopo is raising eyebrows. Thabo Molelekwa reports.
One of the key recommendations from the National TB Prevalence Survey released last year was to increase “access to TB screening and testing services through outreach programmes using mobile testing and X-ray facilities”. Tiyese Jeranji takes stock of the number of mobile X-ray vans and containers across the country and plans to scale up their use.
By Ufrieda Ho – It’s ‛good governance’ week for the Public Protector’s office at the beginning of October and officials are going through the motions of holding a community meeting in Vosloorus. The meeting is however, already running over an hour behind schedule.
By Ufrieda Ho – Two specific issues emerged as priorities for Gauteng from the Provincial Health Assembly this year: migration and mental health.
By Ufrieda Ho – Staff shortages remain a massive challenge for the public health service.
