Over 40 000 deaths could be prevented by better health services
Gaps in healthcare system causes unnecessary deaths of mothers and babies, according to the report "Every death counts".
Gaps in healthcare system causes unnecessary deaths of mothers and babies, according to the report "Every death counts".
The extension of government's prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission plan is on track, says Dr Nomonde Xundu, although no deadlines have been set

Next week, the TAC takes government to court over its failure to act against vitamin seller Matthias Rath. But there's still time to settle, says the TAC.

In 2006, the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF) called pneumonia 'the forgotten killer of children'. Today, one in 10 children worldwide continues to die even though childhood pneumonia can be prevented.
South African women can now, for the first time, be vaccinated against cervical cancer. This follows the recent registration by the Medicines Control Council of a vaccine to prevent the growth of this particular cancer.
Foreign doctor Rob Melvin believes he became a better doctor in rural KZN. He tells his story to Luke Giddy.

Over the last few weeks this feature has dwelt on the country's revised prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programme. But some of us might ask: Why is the revision of the programme so significant?
Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is at the highest rate ever seen in the world, according to the largest ever survey on drug resistant TB.
The Northern Cape has the lowest population density of all the provinces and contains just over two percent of the country's population.
Although primary health care expenditure in Mpumalanga has doubled to R189 per person over the past four years, it is still the lowest in South Africa.
The Western Cape has the best socio-economic development in the country with over 98 percent of people accessing piped water. However the inequity within the province has increased over the last year.

Now in its third year, the District Health Barometer compares all 52 health districts in the country to see which are the healthiest and which are just plain sick.
The North West's rate of immunisation of babies is the lowest in the country, and its TB cure rate has worsened slightly.
The health outcomes in KwaZulu-Natal are generally poor and probably indicative of the effects of the high rate of HIV/AIDS and poverty.
Four of the 10 poorest districts in the country are in the Eastern Cape, the bottom two being the province's OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo.