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Eating to survive: How to know if your party is taking hunger seriously

David Harrison breaks down five ways in which hunger among children can be decreased and explains why it’s important to hold the party you plan to vote for accountable to do something about food insecurity.

Big hospital, big boss — Bara ICU’s Rudo Mathivha retires

In July, Rudo Mathivha handed in her notice at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, ending a rightly celebrated 25-year stint as head of the intensive care unit. It was after a truly terrible year. Her story underscores the extent to which quality healthcare for the country’s most vulnerable people remains at the mercy of the indifferent and the corrupt.

Our most-read stories of 2023

Before the festive season kicks off, take a look at Bhekisisa’s most-read stories of 2023.

From start to finish: Five lessons for making mRNA jabs

The global rise in tuberculosis cases is showing no signs of slowing down. The need for a new vaccine is as urgent as ever, and now a local pharmaceutical company is joining the race to find one. Find out more about the work they did to propel themselves into this position.

From Moshi to Moscow: How a girl from the slopes of Kilimanjaro became Tanzania’s...

In 1969, Esther Mwaikambo became Tanzania’s first female doctor. Today, she is arguably also the country’s most famous. She tells Sean Christie how public healthcare in Africa has changed — and what she wishes for the future.

Over a million SAs have used the HIV prevention pill

More than a million public healthcare users in South Africa had started to use the HIV prevention pill by the end of May, with over half doing so in the past two years, health department data shows. But what must we do to make the pill — and a two-monthly HIV prevention injection — easier to get?

The fine line between wrong and almost right — and how that plays out...

What should journalists do when presidents say the wrong thing — report the story or bury it? A medical doctor, editor, Rhodes Scholar and New York City’s health commissioner during COVID take a deep dive.

A ‘malaria emergency’ is in the making. Here’s why

Last week, at the United Nations General Assembly, African leaders warned that the world faces a “malaria emergency” because mosquitoes are getting smarter, drugs are getting weaker, funds are getting less and the climate is changing.

The importance of being Brimey

With a black beret “à la the EFF” and fire-engine red scrubs, Ebrahim Variava is not scared to speak out against the ills of a broken public health system — something that got him suspended from his post as head of internal medicine at the Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Meet the doctor for whom patients are always the priority.

TB talks: Will #UNGA78 change these three lives?

In the past five years, none of the targets political leaders adopted after the previous round of high-level discussions on the fight against tuberculosis (TB) at the United Nations General Assembly have been met. Today, talks will focus on how to get us back on track to end the disease by 2030.

#UNGA78: How SA’s mRNA hub is teaching the world about preparing for the next...

We will see more pandemics like COVID in the future — which is why political leaders are convening in New York today at the United Nations first ever high-level meeting on pandemic preparedness. Being able to make vaccines locally can stop Africa having to be at the back of the queue waiting for medicines the next time round. Here’s how.

[WATCH] How anti-cervical cancer jabs work

Most cervical cancer cases are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which spreads through sex. Anti-HPV injections have been around since 2006 and getting the jab as a teenager can stop cervical cancer in about nine out of 10 women later in life. We break down how they work, what they cost and why they save lives.
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R13 000 for a packet of pills to thwart long COVID. Is it worth...

Up to one in five people can get long COVID — a condition in which someone keeps on feeling ill for months after their initial symptoms have cleared up. A drug called Paxlovid can lower the chance of developing the long-haul version of COVID. But at what cost?

In the bag: How buying healthy food for R115 a month can curb TB...

In rural India, people with TB got healthy food parcels and vitamin pills. Their chance of dying from the disease dropped by 60% and passing on the infection to someone in their family fell by 40%.

Health Beat #11 | Why do more Black SA women get cervical cancer than...

Cervical cancer affects more Black women in South Africa than any other race. Why? They mostly use state health facilities which means less screening and delayed surgeries. In this month's Health Beat, we find out why cervical cancer is a political disease and travel to a Tshwane clinic where a nurse is convincing parents to get their girls vaccinated against this type of cancer.

Breathing in a deadly dust: How a drop of blood can help

A new tool may help to keep workers who breathe in silica dust safe from silicosis — at less than R50 a prick.