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The Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Bhekisisa is one of only a few media outlets in the Global South specialising in solutions-based narrative features and analysis. We not only uncover problems but also critically evaluate the solutions meant to fix them. It’s an approach we also take with our opinion pieces.

What makes a good op-ed? What can I expect from the editing process? Who do I pitch a possible opinion piece to? Get the answers to all these questions along with some handy writing tips here before you make a submission.

Helen Keller epitomised triumph over adversity

The right to life – and death

However much we abhor the idea, the choice is personal and should be respected.
An estimated 6.8 million people in South Africa are HIV positive.

HIV fight requires wisdom

The health minister and UNAids are jumping the gun by not consulting activists.
Previous strikes at the National Health Laboratory Services have delayed test results for people living with HIV and women awaiting pap smear results.

Could we mass-produce HIV immunity?

One tiny protein may hold the secret to ending the HIV pandemic.

‘Academic boys’ to ‘sex jaros’: What it means to be a Black boy in...

Toxic masculinities help drive everything from HIV infection rates to gender-based violence. But before we ask, what does it mean to be a ‘man’ in South Africa, should we wonder what it’s like to be a boy?
A woman and her children in a village in Niger. A child born in 1960 had an 18% chance of dying before his or her fifth birthday. Today

100-million young lives saved by aid

Aid may often be criticised, but it works, says the Gates Foundation.
After Malema adopted a healthy lifestyle and shed extra pounds

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.
Africa is doing well to immunise against diseases. But the continent still needs support for healthcare.

What can we learn from Angola’s yellow fever outbreak?

The country's yellow fever outbreak is a timely reminder that African countries can't get complacent with their vaccination efforts.
Diary of a young

‘HIV is my unwanted pregnancy’

If you are a man who has sex with men, the HIV prevention pill just keeps getting better. Find out how.
Almost half of all Kenyan women aged 15 to 49 years have a child under the age of five. For most of these women

How women who work are held back by a lack of quality daycare in...

The increasingly disjointed nature of life in urban slums means there’s no network of family support for mothers who want to work.

Folly and fortitude: What sets good and bad leaders apart in the COVID-19 era?

A country's coronavirus response is only as good as its president, writes Lawrence Hamilton. So how does South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa measure up?

‘She can’t discern jam from Vaseline’: Advice for the children of Alzheimer’s patients

In South Africa, a gene test that will tell you if you’re at risk for Alzheimer’s disease costs R3 600. But major organisations warn people against using these home kits without also getting counselling to help them work through the results — regardless of the outcome.
Money

Don’t believe the hype: Why increases to the health budget on paper don’t translate...

Legal claims against the department now amount to more than half of some provincial health budgets. Less money now will only mean more claims later.

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.
|||shot hole borer||

Bugs, borers & heatwaves: Life and mental health in a hotter Joburg

Joburg may have avoided a total “treepocolypse”, but the city is continuing to battle the invasive beetle killing off its trees. In the war against the shot hole borer, there may be more at stake than just the city’s iconic tree-lined avenues.
HIV prevention needs to be targeted at women to ensure reduced infection rates.

#AIDS2016: New science may put the power to prevent HIV in women’s hands

Being able to take a pill discreetly, as women have done with contraceptives since the 1950s, is an HIV prevention revolution.

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.