Missing babies, missing booster shots
While most babies get their first measles vaccination, many miss the second dose as mums struggle to reach far off clinics in the Eastern Cape, say nurses.
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Read More » Missing babies, missing booster shots
HPV campaign to focus on girls – for now
Today, the departments of health and basic education have launched a campaign to vaccinate girls nine years and older against cervical cancer but some wonder if the country is not missing the other 50 percent.
SAHRC: Water, sanitation services in crisis
Despite flattering statistics presented by government about community access to water and sanitation, many communities experience “a starkly different reality.”
Shots in the dark? Vaccinations in South Africa
A national Health-e investigation of one of the most basic services – childhood vaccinations – found vaccine stock-outs in clinics and measles cases in major cities.
Community health workers remain unpaid
Despite promises of payment by the Gauteng Department of Health, some community health workers report that they have not been paid for their work as home-based carers, HIV testing counsellors and peer educators. For some, the delay means they have gone almost five months without pay.
Tshwane residents forced to buy unclean water
Water shortages in Tshwane’s Stinkwater and Eersterust areas are forcing people to buy unpurified borehole water.
BLOG: Mpumalanga living
The first in a series of blog posts by a young South African doctor settling into a rural community service post.
Hospitals may be discharging XDR-TB patients too soon – study
A shortage of beds may be forcing hospitals to discharge patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) before they are cured and a minority may be unwittingly infecting others, according to new research by Cape Town and Stellenbosch universities.
Klerksdorp boy seeks bone marrow donor
One North West family is desperately seeking a bone marrow donor for their 8-year-old son as he battles a life-threatening blood disorder.
Health-e chosen as African Story Challenge finalist
Health-e is one of 20 African news organisations to have been shortlisted as a finalist for US$ 1 million in funding to tell innovative, multi-media stories about health in Africa as part of the African Story Challenge.
Health care community reacts to Mandela’s death
One of South Africa’s first politicians to openly speak about HIV, Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95. Health-e takes a look at how local activists and global health leaders are remembering the father of the nation.
Trailblazing move to take HIV treatment out of clinics
Some of South Africa’s 2.4 million HIV patients will be able to get antiretroviral (ARV) outside of health clinics in a move the Department of Health hopes will help address stock outs.
Young man’s openness about HIV makes him a village hero
Mutshidzi Nembahe tested HIV-positive at just 14 years old. His courage to live openly with HIV has left those in the community in awe.
Medicines go missing – and so do budgets
Budget cuts and poor financial management may be some of the culprits driving the country’s medicine stockouts.
Mental health patients go without proper beds, clothes
With wards packed to capacity, some Port Elizabeth mental health patients are literally sleeping on top of each other, according to health workers who say bed shortages are just the beginning of problems plaguing mental health services.