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Breastfeeding while hungry – Is enough being done to support mothers in the Free State?

Posted in: Child health, Free State, Healthcare system, Latest, Provinces

Earlier this month the world celebrated breastfeeding week. To improve infant nutrition by 2025, the United Nations set targets to eliminate malnutrition and increase breastfeeding rates to at least 50% – targets that South Africa also subscribes to. In South Africa, however, often mothers are poor, unemployed, and hungry – all factors impacting their ability to breastfeed and, ultimately, the nutrition their babies receive. As Women’s Month draws to a close, Refilwe Mochoari looked at the nuances of this challenge in the Free State, where mothers often face a litany of socio-economic challenges and asks how government can support these mothers better.

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OPINION: Struggle for migrant health rights still far from over after landmark judgment 

Posted in: Child health, Gauteng, Healthcare system, HIV/AIDS, Latest, NHI, Provinces, Reproductive Health

In a landmark court decision, the Gauteng High Court recently confirmed the rights of all pregnant and lactating women and children under age six to access services for free at all levels of care. The court order sets a good precedent for migrant health rights going forward, writes Mbali Baduza and Kholofelo Mphahlele as they explain the build-up to the court proceedings and why this is significant for re-affirming the right to access to healthcare for all in terms of section27 of the Constitution.

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Open letter: Dear Minister Phaahla, the ‘medical tourist mom’ is little more than a convenient myth.

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla recently announced in Parliament that his department will conduct a study on the treatment of foreign nationals at public health facilities in South Africa. Phaahla singled out foreign nationals (pregnant women) seeking maternity services as the major concern, but the idea of the medical tourist mom is a myth, writes Kholofelo Mphahlele in this open letter.

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New medicines should make life easier for kids living with HIV

Posted in: Child health, Edition 6: HIV & teens, Edition 9: State of HIV, HIV/AIDS, Latest

HIV medicines for children often taste bitter, pills are large, and for many children there is a lot of medication to take. This makes it hard to take treatment as prescribed. Tiyese Jeranji looks at the challenges with currently available HIV medicines for children, what innovations are in the pipeline, and how HIV treatment is being tailored to suit the needs of children.

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