In 2013 Thabiso Senamela had a terrible headache. He walked from his home in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, to buy painkillers at a local pharmacy. But before reaching his destination he suddenly collapsed in the street. Passersby rushed him to…
The global measures to end the tuberculosis epidemic are showing signs of recovery post-Covid. More cases have been diagnosed and the number of people who died from the disease has gone down. Despite this apparent recovery, the World Health Organisation…
Have you ever wondered how the light around us affects our sleep? It turns out, the kind of light we’re exposed to can make a big difference in the quality of our sleep. The simple act of flipping a light…
Shadrack Mashabane is a traditional healer based in Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga. He is one of 15 traditional healers who, in March, completed training to provide HIV counselling and testing. In an interview with Health-e News, the 37-year-old says that since…
Less than 100 deceased organ donations take place in South Africa every year, while around 5000 patients are on the waiting list for an organ. This is according to the South African Transplantation Society and the South African Transplant Coordinators…
Tuberculosis (TB) experts in South Africa are concerned about the slow uptake of TB preventive treatment (TPT). The people most at risk of TB disease aren’t receiving the protection they need. Dr Norbert Ndjeka, Chief Director of TB Control and…
The City of Johannesburg announced on Wednesday methane gas caused the explosion that took place on Bree street (now called Lillian Ngoyi street) in the inner city. The explosion made international headlines in mid-July with footage of the explosion going…
Karabo Rafube (41), a former inmate who contracted tuberculosis (TB) in prison says it’s concerning that the fight against the infectious disease continues to be neglected within South African prisons. He was speaking after the recent launch of a new…
Agnes Erzse, University of the Witwatersrand and Aviva Tugendhaft, University of the Witwatersrand South Africa has persistently high rates of hunger and malnutrition among mothers and children. More than a quarter – 27% – of children under five are stunted…
The UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2023 report, released last Thursday, shows that despite the absence of an HIV/AIDS vaccine, the world is on the right path to eradicate HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Data shows that 29,8…
If couples test for HIV together, will it improve uptake of health services? A couples-focused intervention aimed at promoting couples’ HIV testing and counselling has found that it will. Igugu Lethu, a joint study between the Human Sciences Research Council…
South Africa’s progress on reducing preterm births has stagnated over the past decade. In 2020, 1.2 million babies were born in South Africa. Thirteen percent (154 800) were preterm or born too soon. South Africa is among the top five…
By Edina Amponsah-Dacosta, University of Cape Town and Julie Copelyn, University of Cape Town South Africa has experienced outbreaks of cholera since January. The worst was in May in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, where nearly 30 people died. Cholera is…
Although South Africa has come a long way in treating HIV, considerable challenges remain in closing the gaps to reach the UN 95-95-95 target by 2030. The aim is to have 95% of all people living with HIV to know…