Seventy-five percent of girl learners surveyed in I_Menstruate Movement’s Bleeding in Silence: Barriers to Menstrual Hygiene Among School Girls in South Africa research reported distress at menarche, their first menstruation. This finding highlights an often-overlooked dimension of menstrual health: the…
In April 2023, the National Department of Health published Draft Regulation R3337, proposing changes to the way foodstuffs are labelled and advertised in South Africa, including the introduction of prominent front-of-pack warning labels on certain products high in sugar, sodium…
South Africa’s medical-negligence crisis is exposing failures far beyond individual doctors and nurses, with experts warning that weak leadership, poor adherence to clinical guidelines, inadequate documentation, staff shortages, and a lack of reliable data are allowing preventable harm to remain…
Traditional healers say patients they refer to public clinics can fall through the cracks because the two health systems don’t communicate effectively. Nozuko Nkunzi, a traditional health practitioner from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, says South Africa’s plans to integrate…
More than 10 intersex adults have approached a South African support organisation since 2020 saying they underwent surgery or other irreversible medical interventions as children without their or their parents’ informed consent. One of them is 33-year old Lerato Sikhosana…
For five weeks this winter, Health-e News freelance contributor Tembile Sgqolana regularly visited an initiation school in Komani, Eastern Cape, where his son was undergoing initiation. He saw first-hand how much responsibility falls on the amakhankatha, or traditional nurses, who…
A recent Health-e News report on allegations by a young Limpopo mother, who says doctors removed her uterus without her knowledge or consent, raises questions about patients’ rights before undergoing sterilisation procedures. Here’s what South African law says about consent…
A young Limpopo mother says doctors removed her womb during childbirth surgery without her knowledge or consent, leaving her in pain and struggling to come to terms with what happened. Dimakatso Madimabe* (20) says she was eight months pregnant when…
Zimbabwean immigrants living in Louis Trichardt say they are being turned away from clinics or told their latest chronic medication collection will be their last, raising fears that anti-immigrant pressure is starting to affect access to healthcare. The concern follows…
The curtain on my long-standing career as a public health service employee after more than a decade spent championing the health rights of the most vulnerable, has drawn to a close. But it closes with sobering thoughts about what we…
Due to extremely low insulin reserves, patients with this form of diabetes may develop dangerously low blood sugar when given insulin.
While there’s been a lot of excitement around the delivery of this consignment, this doesn’t mark the start of the rollout. In fact, it’s not clear when the rollout will start.
Some CHWs who have worked for more than 20 years say they have been excluded from permanent absorption.
The 2026 Budget missed an opportunity to align financial planning with epidemiological reality.
a pregnant woman tried to register as a patient in the facility’s antenatal care using a South African ID with a photo that didn’t match her face.
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