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An inconvenient truth: The real reason why Africa is not getting vaccinated
Pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer have said low vaccine uptake in Africa is due to increasing hesitancy on the continent. But the truth is inequitable distribution of COVID vaccines have left Africa as a vaccine desert.
EFF’s Julius Malema loses extra kilos and the fat cats jeer
Speculation swirled around Malema after he dropped extra kilos, showing dangerous associations between being thin and being sick still plague Africa.
4 ways to make it easy to take the HIV prevention pill
The Aurum Institute is making it easier for people to access HIV prevention medication.Their project includes a screening tool and support groups, and has already reached over 100 000 people.
Finding an HIV vaccine: Five lessons from the search for a COVID jab
The COVID pandemic has revealed that vaccine development and testing timelines can be shrunk from decades to months. But not without its shortcomings. Here’s a look at what lessons we can learn from the search for a COVID jab.
A junior doctor’s battle to keep death at bay for state patients
One in four South African medical students show signs of depression, and most doctors are at risk of burning out. Read about one state doctor’s road to hell and back again.
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Free pads versus free condoms: Why we can’t afford this debate
Why the debate misses the very gendered point in a country where people with uteruses remain disproportionally affected by HIV.
The beauty politic: South Africa’s long and complicated history with skin lighteners
Today, South Africa remains the only country in the world to prohibit all cosmetic claims to skin bleaching, lightening or whitening — and we have a blend of Black Consciousness and science to thank for it. But regulation hasn’t totally snuffed out demand for dangerous creams containing toxic chemicals.
The forgotten form of TB that can carry on forever
Just like with COVID, there’s a long version of TB, called post-TB lung disease. This condition can emerge even after people with TB have finished their courses of treatment.
Is the HIV prevention pill a ‘magic bullet’?
PrEP is not a magic bullet. But we won’t end the HIV epidemic without it.
Why SA supermarkets should slash the price of these 10 foods by a fifth
The food industry will get a tax break to ease the effects of loadshedding on the cost of groceries. But there’s more that the industry can do to keep a basic basket of foods affordable, writes the head of the DG Murray Trust, David Harrison.
This three-legged potjie doesn’t wobble. NHI lessons for deep rural South Africa
For years, this mother in the rural Eastern Cape had to travel across a river and walk for two hours to get to a clinic. Then, her community teamed up with a nonprofit and the provincial health department to change that. These days, the furthest she has to walk to get her newborn to a nurse is five minutes.
How do you stop a hospital heist? Appoint a plunder-proof board
The way South Africa’s health sector is governed leaves hospitals exposed to corruption. Hospital chief executive officers are political appointments, and so are the people at the accountability bodies and regulators such as the Office of Health Standards Compliance that are set up to hold the executives responsible. Independent hospital boards must play this role instead, writes this expert.
A plea to parents: Listen to trans kids, not moral panics
The moral panic arising from unproven concepts such as rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) has made trans lives unliveable. Despite the lack of scientific evidence, ROGD has bolstered claims that coming out as trans during adolescence is a sudden unhappiness about your birth-assigned gender brought on by a social trend.
Curious about what the National Health Insurance will cover? Then you’ll want to read...
What will the National Health Insurance pay for? It’s the question on everyone’s mind when it comes to the move set to redefine how healthcare is financed and managed in South Africa. We give you a behind-the-scenes look at the development of a framework that will help guide policies in this edited extract from the Health Systems Trust's latest Health Review.
Did government waste R127-million on a condom no one wanted?
Activists warn new data shows government may have invested millions into the wrong female condom and may be on the verge of doing it again.