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

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Focus, Healthcare system, HIV/AIDS, InFocus, 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.

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Orthopaedic surgery: What is behind SA’s long waiting lists?

Posted in: Eastern Cape, Free State, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, KwaZulu-Natal, Latest, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Provinces, Western Cape

As of last year, there were 3 449 people waiting on orthopaedic surgery in five of South Africa’s nine provinces. Waiting times in these five provinces ranged from two weeks to over five years. In the Eastern Cape, it can take up to ten years for people to get specific types of orthopaedic surgery. Tiyese Jeranji looks at the numbers and unpacks what it means for healthcare workers and people waiting for orthopaedic surgery.

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Women in health: “No one taught me how to treat a sick system,” says leading young Professor

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

In high school, a guidance councillor told Salome Maswime that she would never be accepted at medical school. Today, she is a professor and head of Global Surgery at the University of Cape Town. Biénne Huisman chatted to Maswime about her work on safe surgery, her remarkable career, and being the only black woman in the room.

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Face to face: Prof Muki Shey on his journey from Cameroon to doing cutting-edge TB research

Posted in: Healthcare Workers, Latest, TB, TB

On 9 March, Professor Muki Shey received a silver award from the South African Medical Research Council for his “outstanding contribution to health research”. Shey is spearheading research into TB in healthcare workers from around Cape Town, scanning for those who over at least five years of high exposure to the disease at hospitals or clinics have never been infected. Biénne Huisman spoke to him about his journey from the North West of Cameroon to a lab at UCT and the value of ploughing back to help develop the next generation.

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In-depth: The human cost of surgical delays

Posted in: Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest

Elective surgery is often performed on injuries or for conditions considered less life-threatening and some patients can wait up to two years for their procedure, which will often be scheduled and then cancelled when someone with a more serious medical emergency takes their spot on the list. This takes a huge emotional and financial toll on these patients and their families. Alicestine October reports.

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Are oral swabs the future of TB testing?

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, TB, TB

The World Health Organization estimates that every year 40% of people who fall ill with TB globally are not diagnosed. There is thus an urgent need for faster, safe, and more convenient TB tests. The current gold standard for testing still requires people to cough up sputum, something that some people and children, in particular, struggle with. Tiyese Jeranji looks at the potential of a new experimental oral swab TB test.

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