Living with genital warts
Phumzile Nkosi (36) has been living with HIV for 12 years, but the added complication of genital warts has made the past year tough.
Women’s Health
Read More » Living with genital warts
Girls & Women: Drivers of Development
OPINION: In development, there are lots of statistics. Sometimes, the digits start to cross in your head, but every once in a while a number jumps out at you because it expresses a complicated truth in simple terms. Here’s one…
Gates places family planning top of the agenda
KUALA LUMPUR – Leading health philanthropist Melinda Gates has appealed to the world to make family planning a top priority and appealed to the 3 000 delegates at the 3rd Women Deliver meeting to help millions of women make their…
Investing in women
KUALA LUMPUR – Women remain the last to be fed, schooled and given access to healthcare, despite huge gains, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the 3rd Women Deliver meeting this week. Speaking via video, Clinton said the…
Clinics without family planning injections
LUSIKISIKI. - All twelve clinics in the Qaukeni sub-district here have had no family planning injections since December last year.
Roadmap to tackle newborn deaths
JOHANNESBURG ' Each year, about three million of the 7.7-million children who die before reaching their fifth birthday are newborns who do not survive their first four weeks of life. This situation has led to the top health agencies and child experts meeting in South Africa to formulate what will become the Global Newborn Action Plan.
Girl’s rape video on social media
LUSIKISIKI. ' Ayanda*, a 19-year-old girl from Joe Slovo Park, was drugged and then filmed while three men raped her. One of the men was her boyfriend, Siyanda*, who alledgedly said that by filming the act he wanted to make her famous.
Violence, alcohol and mental disorders
Violence, alcohol abuse and mental disorders are 'inextricably linked and pose a major public health challenge'.
Push to make breast cancer a priority
A historic breakthrough. That's how key stakeholders in breast health in South Africa described a meeting with the Health ministry on March 21, Human Rights Day. By Sue Segar
Breast cancer screening useless in absence of treatment
CAPE TOWN ' Late presentation by breast cancer patients in Africa remains the biggest challenge to reducing death rates, however if there is no accessible treatment there is no use in screening for cancer, experts told a meeting in Cape Town today.
Making girls & women a priority today and every day
OPINION: This International Women's Day, we have much to celebrate. In the past year alone, we have made tremendous strides in women's health and equality: the United Nations adopted a historic resolution to end female genital mutilation; global leaders convened at the London Summit on Family Planning to make US$2.6 billion in new financial pledges and a series of unparalleled policy commitments to family planning; and together, we celebrated the first-ever International Day of the Girl Child. By Jill Sheffield & Fred Sai
Organisation fights for women’s rights
MGUNGUNDLOVU. - Challenge for Women is an organisation that empowers girls and women in their daily struggle against abuse.
Limpopo teen troubled after abortion
VHEMBE. ' A 19-year-old girl from Gumela village in Limpopo thought she was solving her problems by going for an abortion, but was actually causing more problems than she thought.
Expanding contraceptive options for South Africa’s women
OPINION: I recently met a young woman named Mercy who had five children and was struggling to make ends meet. She had tried oral contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, but admitted that she often forgot to take the pill every day. She then tried injectable contraceptives, which required her to visit to the health centre every quarter, but she often did not have enough money for transport. In fact, she became pregnant with her fifth child after missing one injection. By Dr. Bashir Issak
Girl traumatised after abortion
BETHLEHEM. - A 17-year-old girl from Senekal in the Free State told OurHealth that having an illegal abortion was a 'trauma I will never forget'.