Public health facilities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) face a shortage of health workers; there are limited pick-up points for HIV treatment; and key populations continue to face hostile attitudes from healthcare workers and a lack of privacy. These are just some…
Karen Hofman, University of the Witwatersrand and Susan Goldstein, University of the Witwatersrand Death rates in South Africa have declined slightly during the past few years. But the country faces a steady rise in both death and disability caused by…
By Chris Bateman, Freelance Journalist Only two-thirds of children in South Africa getting treatment for HIV are virally suppressed. Viral suppression is a measure of how well antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs reduce HIV viral load. A high HIV viral load suggests…
In South Africa more than one in three adults have hypertension. The condition is responsible for one in two strokes.
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…
One out of two South Africans with diabetes don’t know they have it. Such high levels of undiagnosed diabetes have devastating consequences. By the time they are diagnosed, people often have advanced organ damage.
The disease is endemic to 14 of the 16 countries that make up the SADC region.
Charles Shey Wiysonge, Stellenbosch University The BCG vaccine for TB has been used for 100 years. It is largely effective for children under five, but less so in older people and can’t be used on patients who have certain medical…
The health sector has taken a knock following finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s announcement of cuts to the HIV programmes as well as spend on health infrastructure in the medium term budget policy statement on Wednesday. The minister’s speech gave a…
South Africa will now be paying 40% less for the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) drug bedaquiline. Bedaquiline is a key component in the cocktail of drugs used to treat MDR-TB. Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is currently the sole manufacturer…
Lerato Mthunzi, Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (HAITU) General Secretary October is mental health awareness month and as it draws to an end, a few key issues must be highlighted to make this month less of a ritualistic…
[This story was first published on 17 October 2023. It’s been updated to reflect the latest developments] Bogus health professionals have been a hot topic in South Africa lately. One of the more sensational is the story of ‘Tik Tok’…
Mmamapudi Kubjane, University of the Witwatersrand and Leigh Johnson, University of Cape Town Around the world, men are more likely to get TB and to die from it than women. We recently conducted research to establish the various factors that…
Ten Limpopo municipalities have three months to show detailed plans of how they’re going to provide residents with water, or face court action. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says failure by municipalities to provide basic services can no…
Research now needs to build more evidence around the effectiveness of these interventions, and how traditional medicine practitioners can be mobilised to become part of the healthcare system.
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