Bhekisisa

South Africa plans to make opioid substitutes such as methadone available at all state clinics and hospitals over the next five years. Methadone helps wean people off drugs such as heroin. Here are the five things the government needs to do to get this right.

Follow our live coverage of the health department’s 23 May briefing on South Africa’s cholera outbreak.

The Nigerian government wants to stop medical professionals from leaving to countries including the United Kingdom and the United States by making it mandatory for doctors to work in state hospitals for five years.

Cholera is caused by bacteria that normally comes from the faeces of an infected person. Here’s how you can protect yourself.

In 2020, 1.9-million children were stillborn according to a new report from the World Health Organisation. Read how one woman’s experience of stillbirth inspired her to start a mental health support group for parents who lost a child during pregnancy.

In this moving account, an HIV activist describes her relationship with her gay son and her fears over Uganda’s homophobic bill that criminalises his sexuality.

Health problems linked to obesity — such as diabetes or heart disease — cost South Africa’s public health system up to R36 billion in 2020. In the latest episode of Bhekisisa’s monthly TV show, Health Beat, Mia Malan spoke to public health researcher Susan Goldstein about how regulations about how foods are sold can help to prevent obesity.

Researchers have found a way to slash life-threatening bleeding after birth by 60%, according to a study presented at the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference in Cape Town last week.

Around the time Phumeza Tisile was receiving treatment for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), the cure rate for patients with that form of the disease was 15%. Tisile beat XDR-TB despite the odds, but not without a cost: she lost her hearing.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla will table his budget for the 2023/2024 financial year on 9 and 10 May. Get everything you need to stay on top of the developments, all in one place.