
The heavy impact of urban diets
Pumpkin leaves, sweet potatoes, Hugo beans, baby black jacks and wild fruits have been rejected in favour of a more westernised diet of processed meats, fast food and oily treats leading to a host of health problems.

Pumpkin leaves, sweet potatoes, Hugo beans, baby black jacks and wild fruits have been rejected in favour of a more westernised diet of processed meats, fast food and oily treats leading to a host of health problems.

Overcrowded wards, a shortage of blankets, broken showers and no hot water – these are among the shocking conditions patients face when admitted to the Far East Rand Hospital in Springs.

Mpumalanga – A young man, diagnosed with HIV and advised to start anti-retroviral treatment, chose instead to please his family and turn to the church for help.

A pregnant woman, who was sent home after arriving at her local clinic with severe abdominal pains, gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the street a short while later.

Linah Kekana, a 45 year- old Alexandra woman who is virtually immobile after contracting Elephantiasis in her left leg 12 years ago, will be receiving a social grant until she can have the surgery needed to remedy her condition.

Months after authorities were alerted to the plight of a severely neglected 25 year-old handicapped man, nothing has been done to help him.

LIMPOPO - The toilets at the Vhembe district Home Affairs offices in Limpopo have not been cleaned for so long that the local community now believes they are an actual health hazard.

Jeppe Clinic, one of the biggest government health facilities serving the high-density community of the Johannesburg CBD, has been temporarily closed.

LIMPOPO - The renovation of the Waterval Stadium, near Elim Hospital has brought hope and happiness to the residents as they will now have a proper place to exercise.

The recent introduction of a youth-friendly service at Masakhane Clinic in Alexandra township has been heralded by many young people as a move that will encourage them to access public health care more often and easily.

The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) is facing a serious shortage of type O blood with just over a day and a half supply in its blood banks across the country. The blood donor organisation has appealed to citizens to make donations as a matter of urgency and become regular blood donors.

It has been almost 10 years since the psychiatric ward in Tshilidzini Hospital outside of Thohoyandou in Limpopo was burnt down – and still it has not been restored or repaired.

“Right now what I need and want is not important,” said a 12-year-old boy who spends his days begging for money.

Diagnosed HIV positive at birth, pregnant at 16, raped at 19 – a young woman raised in Soweto is using her own life experiences to teach young people about HIV and unwanted pregnancy.

SOWETO – A door-to-door campaign conducted at Jabulani Hostel in honour of TB awareness month revealed that while many residents are infected, a high number of them have been defaulting on their treatment.