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ANC and its ministers reject reports of NHI ‘concessions’

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Focus, Healthcare system, InFocus, Latest, NHI

Recent media reports over the future of NHI have been contradictory and hard to make sense of. Chris Bateman chased up those in a position to know where things stand – it seems the ANC has not in fact made any major concessions on NHI. There is however agreement that medical schemes won’t be phased out in the next few years, something that likely wouldn’t have happened in any case given the poor state of the economy and the long timeline for NHI implementation.

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#InTheSpotlight | How will NHI unfold? Here are three possible scenarios

Posted in: #InTheSpotlight, Focus, Healthcare system, InFocus, Latest, NHI, Special Investigations, Spotlight

As health department officials move to set up National Health Insurance’s basic structures, including its board, several experts say the scheme remains a pipe-dream, doomed to the same fate as Gauteng’s aborted e-tolls project. In this Spotlight special briefing, Jesse Copelyn outlines three possible scenarios for how NHI might pan out over the coming years.

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INTERVIEW: “Guys, I think that’s a new variant” – de Oliveira reflects on two years chasing the virus

Posted in: COVID-19, Healthcare system, Latest

South African bioinformatics expert Professor Tulio de Oliveira was recently honoured with Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people award. Biénne Huisman sat down with him to talk about his part in the discovery of new COVID-19 variants, his chats with the President, and the treasure trove of scientific research excellence in Africa.

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Opinion: WHO numbers underscore urgent need for stronger leadership and ambitious TB recovery plan

Posted in: COVID-19, Edition 12: SA’s AIDS & TB response, Edition 14: Tuberculosis, Edition 7: TB, Latest, TB, TB

According to new estimates from the World Health Organization around 61 000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2020, an increase of around 5% over 2019. That works out to over 1 100 TB deaths in the country every week. We urgently need a transparent TB recovery plan and we need both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Joe Phaahla to invest real political capital in the implementation of the plan, the authors argue.

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Assessing Dr Zweli Mkhize’s two years as Health Minister

Posted in: COVID-19, Healthcare system, Latest

Last night President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Dr Zweli Mkhize had resigned as South Africa’s Minister of Health after eight weeks on special leave. Although Mkhize will primarily be remembered for the Digital Vibes scandal that caused his downfall, a lot more happened over the last two years. Spotlight editor Marcus Low asks what we can learn from Mkhize’s time as health minister and tries to make sense of some of the contradictions.

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High hopes for deal to unlock local COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing

Posted in: COVID-19, Latest

On Monday President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa will host the first World Health Organization-backed COVID-19 mRNA vaccine Technology Transfer Hub – an initiative designed to get the production of mRNA vaccines off the ground in Africa. Parties involved in the hub expect to hear as early as next week whether pharmaceutical companies with mRNA COVID-vaccines for COVID-19 on the market – Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech – will share their know-how with the hub. Chris Bateman reports for Spotlight.

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Opinion: The President must rise above petty politics and appoint a Health Minister fit to fight our current crisis

Posted in: Spotlight

While the Digital Vibes scandal has no doubt presented President Cyril Ramaphosa with a massive headache, it has also presented him with an opportunity. In appointing a new Minister of Health, he can set South Africa’s COVID-19 response on a sounder footing. We should soon know whether this is an opportunity he is ready to take, writes Spotlight editor Marcus Low.

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