The ongoing struggles in South Africa’s public healthcare system, including staff shortages, poor infrastructure and surgery backlogs, came under the spotlight on Tuesday when parliamentarians raised their concerns with Health Minister Joe Phaahla. The minister was delivering his department’s budget…
The 2023/24 budget allocation for the National Department of Health has declined by  R4,4bn from R64.5bn in 22/23 to R60.1 billion in 2023 Health Minister Joe Phaahla says this can be attributed to the discontinuation of conditional grants allocated…
Covid-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement on Friday, marking exactly three years since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China. “Yesterday,…
This is Tebogo Matlaki’s fourth time going into rehab. The 31-year-old is from Vosloorus, a township 30 kilometres southeast of Johannesburg. He lost his policeman father to gun violence and turned to drugs when he was 16 writes Hannah Zhihan…
Black women living with HIV continue to experience forced sterilisation at South African public health institutions, the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Conference heard at Diep in Die Berg, in Pretoria, on Wednesday Organised by the Department of Social Development, the…
South Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity has received a major boost with an R281 million grant from the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The funds will support the expansion of Biovac, Southern Africa’s only human vaccine manufacturer…
 Over one year since the Mtengwane and Swanepoel families called on South Africans to register to become stem cell donors, only one of the two families had their prayers answered. The other family is still clinging to hope. Bomikazi…
An additional Covid-19 vaccine booster will soon be available to immunocompromised South Africans. The health ministry plans to provide this extra booster at least six months after the last jab. “This next booster is a voluntary dose. It is…
 As the National Department of Health moves towards the next phase of its quest to implement the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI), it admits that several challenges lie ahead. This comes after the National Assembly Portfolio Committee on Health…
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has announced that from early next year, all children aged between five and 11, living with conditions that place them at risk of severe COVID-19 disease, will be eligible for the jab. This comes as…
 With South Africa expected to begin piloting injectable Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) early next year, experts have described the proposed rollout as a potential ‘game changer’ in the fight against the virus. It is primed to provide an additional HIV…
As we prepare to observe skin cancer awareness from 1 December to 31 January 2023, and head into hotter summer days, it is important to remember the role that sunscreen plays in skin cancer prevention. Naniki Seboni, from Soweto,…
 Women’s participation in the economy took centre stage at the launch of this year’s 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children, which kicked off at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg earlier this afternoon. Led…
A new study has revealed that eliminating cervical cancer is possible, even in high HIV-burden settings like South Africa. This good news comes two years after the launch of the World Health Organisation (WHO) strategy to accelerate the elimination and…
Experts have expressed doubt over whether the Bill to decriminalise sex work in South Africa will be tabled before parliament by the end of the year. Acting Chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), Nomasonto Mazibuko, said they…