Spotlight’s top 9 health stories to watch in 2026

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Focus, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, HIV/AIDS, InFocus, Latest, Opinions, Perspectives, Spotlight, TB

From the limited rollout of a new HIV prevention jab to developments with new weight loss medicines, to high-stakes court cases relating to National Health Insurance (NHI), 2026 is set to be another tumultuous year in healthcare. Here are nine stories that Spotlight will keep a close eye on.

Spotlight’s top 9 health stories to watch in 2026

Highrises, hellholes and healthcare – Hillbrow’s heritage story

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Gauteng, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, HIV/AIDS, InFocus, Latest, Provinces, Spotlight, TB

Hillbrow started out as Johannesburg’s first health hub in the late 1880s. It’s also been a suburb associated with pimps and prostitution, a middle finger to the Nationalist Party, and a key site of the HIV crisis. Today, it’s the forgotten flatlands of inner city decay … but in small pockets it stays true to its heritage of bringing healthcare to the city’s most overlooked.