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Food parcels are handed to residents at a food distribution organised by the grassroots charity Hunger Has No Religion, in Westbury, Johannesburg. MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images Irene Labuschagne, Stellenbosch University One in ten South Africans go hungry every day. As a result malnutrition levels are high. Malnutrition has three simultaneous dimensions: undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies and over-nutrition. These can manifest in stunting – being short for one’s age because of long-term undernutrition. In 2016 it was estimated to be 27% among South African children. This is high. Africa is currently the only continent where stunting rates continue to rise, with 27% of African children classified as stunted in 2018. Another consequence of malnutrition is overweight and obesity. There has been a dramatic increase in both among adults in the country from 29.6% in 1998 to 39.8% in 2016 in women aged 15–24 years. In women aged 45–54 years it increased
Millions of South African school girls have to contend with their monthly periods without having any access to sanitary products. Making their lives even more difficult, is the prevalence of stigmas which only worsen period poverty – a huge problem in our country. Up to seven million girls do not have access or cannot afford to buy sanitary products. Although no official statistics are available, it is estimated that 30% of South African girls do not attend school while they have their period. Not having access to these products often leads to ridicule from their peers, further perpetuating the stigma around menstrual cycles. These stigmas manifest themselves when females are taught about their periods. Women are often told to keep their cycle a secret, or that they are unclean during this time. Some of these myths go as far as preventing young girls from participating in prayer or being kept
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Patients at the KwaMhlanga hospital in Mpumalanga have to travel 60km away to get x-rays done. According to patients, the x-ray machine has not been working for over a month. Thabo Msiza said he took his father to KwaMhlanga hospital twice in April, and the machine was not working. “My father was always ferried to Mmametlhake Hospital for him to access his scans. That was an inconvenience because he was unable to travel a long distance,” said Msiza. Amos Sibanyoni said his sister experienced the same issue after being involved in an accident last month. Department denies machine is not operational The hospital arranged for several patients, including his sister, to be taken to Mmametlhake Hospital. “I asked what was wrong with the machine, and I was not given a straight answer. Even the radiographer at the hospital was nowhere to be found,” said Sibanyoni. The provincial health department denied
Activists have raised concern about the ongoing vulnerability of elderly people in South Africa after the recent murder of a 70-year-old woman, allegedly at the hands of her son. Earlier this month, Greta Xaba (70) from Clermont township west of Durban, was allegedly beaten to death by her son. He is a police officer stationed at KwaDabeka Community Service Centre. Her death left the community shocked. “The murder of uGogo Xaba has left the community devastated and worried about the safety of elderly people. It has also made us wonder if it is safe to leave [them] alone,” said Cele. She said there need to be community forums that can monitor these situations to protect old people from abuse. Nhlaka Mnqayi, another community member from the KwaDabeka township said society must be taught the important role older people play. “There should be more awareness events and campaigns and its importance
Patients in need of eye operations in the Sekhukhune and Capricorn districts in Limpopo are disappointed because the Warmbath Hospital in Waterberg District has not called them despite promising to do so a few months ago. Joshua Leselo* (71) from the Phokoane village near Jane Furse, Sekhukhune district desperately needs an operation to restore his full vision. “I started to lose much of my vision some three years back,” Leselo says. “I went to Jane Furse hospital in Sekhukhune district and was diagnosed with [a] cataracts, (a condition in which a person’s vision becomes cloudy leading to blindness). There is no eye doctor at Jane Furse hospital. And during September last year, I heard about FH Odendaal hospital in Modimolle in the Waterberg district which is about 300km away. I then find other patients to team up with so we can hire private cars to go there.” He found out
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Have you noticed that every time you do your monthly shop it seems like your trolley becomes more expensive? With rising prices, all around, South Africans are feeling the pinch. But did you know that climate change is also part of the problem and is contributing to inflation? On 6 May 2022, IPES-Food (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems) released a special report on the state of the global food crisis and world hunger. The scientists explained that, as climate changes put pressure on local farmers, South African food prices could rise and more money will also need to go to importing food. It’s been happening for years. The World Bank reports that “over the past few decades, Africa’s food import bill has more than tripled”, reaching about R559-billion ($35-billion) a year. Here are shopping cart items that are likely to get more expensive and elusive thanks to
The Global Fund has donated R8.8-billion to South Africa to fight HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria. The grant, which runs for three years from April 2022 until March 2025, gives a major boost to the country’s efforts to eradicate these diseases. Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla said the government would ensure the funding was used efficiently. “We will increase our efforts to quickly implement our programmes in HIV and TB to recover some gains which were reversed due to COVID,” said Phaahla at the signing ceremony on Thursday. [WATCH] The Global Fund Grant Signing Ceremony with 4 principal recipients getting their share of over R8,8 billion rands for HIV and TB response in SA communities has been concluded. pic.twitter.com/gXL64hkqkW — @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) May 12, 2022 He said the fund will contribute to efforts to save the lives of people living with HIV and Aids and TB. “Already we are rolling out
The Accident and Emergency Unit at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital has reopened after a blaze forced the closure of the facility over a year ago. Speaking at the reopening on Monday, Health Minister Joe Phaahle said the reopening of the unit is part of a phased-in approach to bring the hospital back to being fully operational. He said the first group of patients have already been admitted. There are currently 15 mental health patients being treated in the unit. The majority of these patients were transferred from Helen Joseph Hospital on May 4th. “The process of gradual transfer of patients from other facilities to this hospital has been going smoothly since the beginning of this month. Of course, this also meant even staff members, especially those who were temporarily transferred to other hospitals had to gradually return to their permanent workplace,” Phaahla said. CT Scanner being fixed But no
Sara E Casey, Columbia University A leaked draft of a majority opinion of the US Supreme Court has revealed the court’s leaning towards undoing its 1973 landmark ruling (Roe v Wade) which gave women in the US a constitutional right to abortion. The leaked document is not the court’s final decision – this is expected in a couple of months. But reproductive health experts are warning that it could threaten women’s rights around the world. The Conversation Africa’s Ina Skosana spoke to reproductive health researcher Sara Casey about how women in Africa could be affected by US policy decisions. 1. What is Roe v Wade? What’s its significance in relation to abortion rights? Roe v Wade is the landmark United States Supreme Court decision that gave women a constitutional right to abortion. That decision means that pregnant people living in the US can obtain an abortion on request, subject to
The Department of Health announced on Thursday that children must continue wearing masks at school and other general indoor gatherings. On Wednesday night when it released new limited COVID-19 regulations, it stated that children would not have to wear masks at school. But late Thursday it retracted the statement, and said the confusion was created by “regrettable human error”. “Children like other people are expected to continue complying with the provisions of Regulation 16A on face masks in the classrooms and general indoor gatherings, unlike outdoors in playgrounds and sports fields,” the DoH said in the statement. It reiterated that face masks are an effective non-pharmaceutical intervention against the spread of COVID-19, and said it was especially crucial now as the number of COVID-19 positive cases has started to rise again. “The department reminds the public that vaccination services against Covid remain available and accessible, and we can mitigate the