SA’s Cancer Story | The many long journeys to get cancer treatment far from home

Posted in: Eastern Cape, Free State, Healthcare system, Latest, NCDs, Provinces, Spotlight

The road to cancer treatment in South Africa often involves many encounters with healthcare workers and long journeys far from home. From pink iPhone covers to pink embroidery yarn, and cornstarch, Biénne Huisman hears the stories of people from vast corners of inland South Africa, and beyond, who travelled to Bloemfontein for specialist medical attention to treat their cancer. This is part 4 of Daily Maverick and Spotlight’s special series on cancer in South Africa.

SA’s Cancer Story | The many long journeys to get cancer treatment far from home

SA’s Cancer Story | From the intensity of the rugby field to a Golden Arrow bus ride home on which one does not cry

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, NCDs, Provinces, Western Cape

Two women, two breast cancer journeys. In the first article of a new Daily Maverick and Spotlight special series on cancer in South Africa, Biénne Huisman speaks with rugby referee Aimee Barrett-Theron and cancer warrior Joyce Witbooi, who helps women navigate Cape Town’s public health system.

SA’s Cancer Story | From the intensity of the rugby field to a Golden Arrow bus ride home on which one does not cry

Angst as South Africa’s HIV & TB Healthcare Worker Hotline goes offline

Posted in: Healthcare system, HIV, Latest, Spotlight, TB

A crucial hotline run for nearly 20 years from the slopes of Devil’s Peak in Cape Town for healthcare workers anywhere in South Africa, from the country’s busiest urban hospitals to far flung resource strained rural clinics, has been suspended due to a lack of funding.

Angst as South Africa’s HIV & TB Healthcare Worker Hotline goes offline

Cape Town’s unique kidney clinic is keeping youngsters alive

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, NCDs, Provinces, Spotlight, Western Cape

Young people with kidney disease in South Africa often fall into the gap between the paediatric and adult healthcare systems. One innovative clinic in Cape Town is offering a solution tailor-made for this group. Elna Schütz reports.

Cape Town’s unique kidney clinic is keeping youngsters alive

Behind the scenes: The amazing people driving a ‘truly South African’ HIV vaccine study

Posted in: HIV, Latest, Spotlight

A cutting-edge, South African-led HIV vaccine trial built on decades of research recently kicked off in Cape Town. Elri Voigt unpacks what exactly is being studied, and how the resilience, tenacity and urgency of a group of dedicated South African researchers made it possible.

Behind the scenes: The amazing people driving a ‘truly South African’ HIV vaccine study

Waiting is not an option in the first 1000 days: How a shared approach in Cape Town helps high-risk babies

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, Provinces

South Africa’s health department is overhauling its framework for disability services. It prompts an important question: When it comes to Cerebral Palsy – a wide-ranging motor disorder with possible comorbidities – what could a standardised package of baby care look like, especially within an overburdened public health system? Spotlight explores a collaborative approach in Cape Town aimed at optimising development during the critical first 1 000 days of life.

Waiting is not an option in the first 1000 days: How a shared approach in Cape Town helps high-risk babies

Between silence and sirens: Cape Town trauma surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson’s midnight vigils

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, Provinces, Spotlight, Western Cape

Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has one of the busiest emergency centres in the Western Cape. As it turns to the public to raise R20 million for the opening of a new emergency centre, Dr Deidre McPherson chats to Biénne Huisman about the hospital’s trauma frontline.

Between silence and sirens: Cape Town trauma surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson’s midnight vigils

SA has very low organ donation rates – how can we fix it?

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, Spotlight

Thousands of people in South Africa are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, but our very low organ donation rates mean that many won’t get a transplant in time. Elri Voigt asks the experts why our donation rates are so low and what can be done about it.

SA has very low organ donation rates – how can we fix it?

How a Cape Town mother gave birth to ‘miracle baby’ who grew outside her womb

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, Provinces, Spotlight, Western Cape

Joshua was safely delivered from Sylvia’s belly instead of her uterus one year ago. Biénne Huisman meets mother and baby, and hears from some of the healthcare professionals involved in the remarkable outcome.

How a Cape Town mother gave birth to ‘miracle baby’ who grew outside her womb

Don’t panic about new SARS-CoV-2 variant, experts say

Posted in: COVID-19, Healthcare system, Latest, Spotlight

COVID-19 has largely dropped out of the headlines, but the virus that causes it is still circulating. Biénne Huisman asks what we should know about a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2025, and the lack of access to updated vaccines in South Africa.

Don’t panic about new SARS-CoV-2 variant, experts say

He leads with heart and hustle at Groote Schuur but money is a big problem, says nursing boss

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, Provinces, Spotlight, Western Cape

Groote Schuur Hospital’s first male nursing manager, Aghmat Mohamed, reflects on the pressures of nursing in South Africa. Ahead of International Nurses Day and the release of a major global report on the state of nursing, Biénne Huisman chatted to him about his decades on the front lines of healthcare.

He leads with heart and hustle at Groote Schuur but money is a big problem, says nursing boss

Why a major finding on HIV and statins may not be that relevant in SA

Posted in: Healthcare system, HIV, Latest, Spotlight

One of the biggest stories in HIV in the last year was that a class of medicines called statins could help reduce cardiovascular disease in people living with the virus. In response, treatment guidelines in the United States were quickly updated, but the picture is more complicated in South Africa. Spotlight’s Elri Voigt explores why the case for widespread use of statins by people living with HIV is less compelling in South Africa than in some other countries.