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OPINION: How can we make surgical care accessible by drawing on lessons from the AIDS movement?

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest

The quest for access to equitable and quality surgical care for all will not be won only in board rooms, theatres, or hospital corridors. We have to take this quest into communities and build alliances. In that respect, we can learn from one of the best examples of how community participation and mobilisation can help change health policy – the movement to ensure access to affordable and universal anti-retroviral treatment for persons living with HIV, argues Professor Kathryn Chu and Sangeun Lee.

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Opinion: Policy Graveyard- where policies go to die

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest

If there is a policy graveyard located somewhere in the country it would be littered with well-written but otherwise poorly implemented policies. Moreover, it would not be unusual to find that most of these policies were buried without proper autopsies being conducted. Claire Botha unpacks the reasons for this and offers some suggestions as to what can be done about it.

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Analysis: Is SA on course to solve its TB diagnosis problem?

Posted in: Healthcare system, Latest, TB, TB

It is estimated that over 100 000 of the over 300 000 people who fall ill with TB in South Africa every year are not diagnosed. As a result, improving TB screening and testing has become a high priority in South Africa’s TB response. Coinciding with World TB Day 2022, Spotlight editor Marcus Low examines new information shared by the National Department of Health and assesses the state of the country’s TB case-finding efforts.

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In-depth: Landmark survey of key populations confirms scale of problems

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Edition 8: NSP in general, Edition 9: State of HIV, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, HIV/AIDS, Latest, LGBTI, NSP and SANAC, Sex Work, SRHR

People who belong to key populations, such as men who have sex with men, often report that it is difficult for them to access health services – for example, due to negative healthcare worker attitudes. Now, a large survey published last week by community healthcare monitoring group Ritshidze provides important statistics that not only confirm that such experiences are widespread but also help in pinning down some specific issues. Tiyese Jeranji reports.

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Health in 2021: Spotlight’s top 12 questions

Posted in: Latest

While COVID-19 will continue to make headlines for some time, 2021 will also be a critical year for healthcare reforms in South Africa and for various aspects of the country’s HIV and TB response. These are Spotlight’s top 12 healthcare questions for the year.

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Opinion: When civil society can’t do its work, adherence to HIV treatment dips.

Posted in: Edition 12: SA’s AIDS & TB response, Edition 8: NSP in general, Edition 9: State of HIV, HIV/AIDS, Latest, Limpopo, Provinces, SRHR

If South Africa is forced to go into a COVID-19 lockdown again, HIV support groups and adherence clubs should remain functional to make sure that everyone is supported, has regular access to information and treatment, and that people are motivated to adhere to treatment, argue Annah Maluleke and Solanga Milambo.

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Treatment Action Campaign: Special Edition

Posted in: Resources

We have prepared a special print edition of Spotlight to coincide with
the Treatment Action Campaign’s 6th National Congress taking place
from 23 to 25 August 2017. Amongst others it contains updates from all
seven TAC provinces and articles on treatment adherence and the future
of ART

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