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Special Reports:

Our HIV reporting of the past decade

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A large chunk of our reporting focuses on HIV. Since the launch of Bhekisisa in 2013, we’ve covered HIV in-depth — from the impact of the virus on former president Nelson Mandela’s family to the advances in antiretroviral treatment and anti-HIV pills and injections. We’ve also looked at the impact of inequality and discrimination on the spread of HIV, the link between gender-based violence and HIV — and ways to fix it.

HomeHealth Beat shorts ‘I’m a warrior’: How the anti-HIV injection empowers young women

[WATCH] ‘I’m a warrior’: How the anti-HIV injection empowers young women

  • South Africa’s medicines regulator, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra), has approved a two-monthly anti-HIV injection. At the Emavundleni Prevention Research Centre in Nyanga outside Cape Town, more than 200 women have been taking the jab as part of a clinical trial.
  • The shot almost entirely cancels people’s chances of contracting HIV through sex. It’s also easier to stick to than the daily HIV prevention pill because it only has to be taken once every two months.
  • Our reporters travelled to Cape Town and spoke to three women who’ve become HIV prevention advocates in their communities. Watch the video to find out why they’re worried about getting the virus. They also tell us how the injection, called CAB-LA, has changed their lives.

Yolanda Mdzeke is a multimedia reporter at Bhekisisa.

Mohale Moloi worked at Bhekisisa as a television producer and health journalist from July 2021 to March 2024.

Jessica Pitchford is Bhekisisa's TV and multimedia editor. She's been a journalist since the early nineties and has reported on some pivotal events in South Africa’s political history, such as the country’s transition to democracy and the work of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.

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