A programme educating young girls about sexual and reproductive health in Ratanda, Heidelberg has mentored more than 120 girls since its inception in Gauteng six years ago. Organisers say there have been no pregnancies among participants since the launch of…
Craving chocolate, chips or bread from time to time is normal. But when cravings become persistent and start driving unhealthy eating patterns, they may have longer-term consequences for your health. Health-e News spoke to registered dietician, Jandri Barnard about what…
As we head into the warmer summer months and spend more time outdoors, protecting our skin from sun damage becomes increasingly important. Skin cancer can begin with a small change that is easy to overlook: a sore that does not…
Professor Chrysis Sofianos, Academic Head of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of the Witwatersrand, urges South Africans not to ignore the small skin changes that could eventually require major treatment and reconstruction. A sore that…
Ahead of the local government elections on 4 November Health-e News is turning the spotlight on how municipal services and their failures affect people’s health with a new investigative series: Elections 2026: Is Your Municipality Keeping You Healthy? While provincial…
Joel Raphiri lives by the Northern Sotho adage ‘letsema le ema ka mong’, meaning a group effort only succeeds if the person who initiated it takes the lead and puts in the work first. For more than a decade, the…
What started as a toothache in 2021 led to a rare cancer diagnosis and years of medical treatment for 29-year-old Lerato Mosai. Four years later, the Sasolburg woman is bedridden and dependent on her mother for her daily care. Mosai…
Thapelo Tshabalala, author and co-founder of Tshwane Disability Empowerment Projects, knows what it is like to feel excluded because of a disability. Growing up, Tshabalala struggled to read and write and says he was repeatedly told by teachers and family…
At 58, Tankiso Khamadi continues to collect recyclable waste at the Nyakallong landfill in the Free State despite struggling with respiratory problems and being treated for tuberculosis (TB) last year. Khamadi is among a group of mostly older reclaimers who…
Dorothy Khomo from Duduza township, near Springs on Gauteng’s East Rand, had just returned from church and was eating with her family when she felt a chicken bone lodge in her throat. Her sister suggested eating brown bread to push…
Residents of Mafefe village in Limpopo are being screened for asbestos-related illnesses as government moves to address contamination from abandoned mines that closed more than 30 years ago. The intervention follows the death of 48-year-old Mampuru Thobejane, whose father, Chief…
Health and nutrition experts say the health consequences of South Africa’s food insecurity crisis can begin long before someone becomes sick enough to need hospital treatment. The scale of the crisis came under renewed scrutiny when the South African Human…
Informal gold miners working around old mine dumps between Nyakallong and Allanridge in the Free State say they risk exposure to mine dust, mercury and other chemicals while trying to earn enough money to support their families. At 48, Thabo*…
South Africa’s HIV response is, in many ways, a remarkable success story. Millions of people now have access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART), transforming HIV from a fatal illness into a manageable chronic condition. Yet beneath this progress lies a…
For some families, dinner is pap and spinach. For another, chicken and bread must stretch across a household of 12. At a Free State school, a plate of samp, beans and vegetables may be a child’s main meal of the…
