OurHealth is a project that trains and supports local activists and aspiring health journalists. Our citizen journalists (CJs) live in rural and poorly-covered areas in South Africa, and report on health issues affecting their communities.
Mashiqana's foundation addresses healthcare discrimination, and mental health stigma, while supporting local schools and empowering volunteers to advocate for change.
The Department of Health has been criticised for not appointing more nurses, administration clerks, or a clinic manager to ease the workload and improve patient care.
The health professionals raised concerns that the exams required by the councils for registration were significantly different from those they had taken abroad, making it difficult for them to gain approval to work in South Africa.
Patients have reported receiving incorrect prescription spectacles or have experienced long waits, sometimes years, for their spectacles.
It’s a highly contagious disease and can be spread through close contact with infected persons, saliva, and faeces.
Two hospital radiographers and a technician from the private company were injured in the blast.
Health officials are actively investigating the outbreak, and local teams are testing water samples to identify potential pathogens.
The hospital has faced water issues since 2022, after community members destroyed a pipeline.
Community reactions are mixed, with some criticising the clinic staff for delays, while others urge the public to be patient.
The chronic water shortages at Manapo Hospital in Phuthaditjhaba have been linked to organised crime, according to Free State health MEC Viceroy Mahlatsi.
Training in swimming and rescue techniques, as well as public education on CPR and first aid, are vital.
Rural patients needing specialist care often spend the night at WF Knobel Hospital, from where they are are transported to Mankweng and Polokwane Provincial Hospitals.
Residents in these informal settlements rely on nearby streams or distant townships for water, sometimes paying for access or resorting to illegal connections.
The free flowing wastewater make it difficult to even walk down the street. In some areas, the roads are so damaged that cars won’t drive there.
The fire which broke out at Phuthuloha hospital is the second fire at a Free State hospital in two in weeks.
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