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South Africa’s growing obesity epidemic won’t be reversed by preaching healthier eating habits and exercise alone; there’s a growing realisation that the food industry needs to change, write David Harrison and Liezel Engelbrecht.

Civil rights activist Koketso Moeti has been smoking for over 20 years. Yet she supports South Africa’s new Tobacco Bill, which bans indoor smoking, including vaping, in public buildings. Here’s why.

The words we use to describe diseases tell us more about how people experience living with it. The isiXhosa word for tuberculosis, isifo sephepha, is a case in point. Understanding where it comes from can help to break down the stigma around the disease.

About one in five teens in South Africa are overweight or have obesity, with eating unhealthy foods being a big part of the problem. But changing policies to make cities healthier can help school kids eat better — and set them up for a healthier future. Cape Town is part of a project to do this.

About two-thirds of women and almost a third of men in South Africa are overweight or have obesity. It’s a new public health threat, which, if not acted on now, will have serious consequences for the wellbeing of the country. But rather than making it a game of blame and shame, there are two things that can be done right now.

Dive into the world of "upper deckys" and "Zynbabwes”. Nicotine pouches have sparked a global sensation, hailed by some as the future of tobacco cessation. Yet, behind the catchy nicknames and promises of harm reduction lie the exploitation of legal loopholes and questionable science. What’s really the deal?

Tobacco ads have been banned in many countries for years, but Big Tobacco is finding ways to get around the rules — like partnering with Formula 1 to punt their new products to a global audience. Could South Africa’s new tobacco Bill put an end to racing on our screens?

Some small-scale black tobacco farmers in Limpopo feel that the tobacco industry supported them under the guise of an upliftment programme, but then used them to fight against illicit tobacco trade. By 2021, the financial support dried up.

South Africa’s anti-smoking policies rely on increased sin taxes to cut smoking rates in the country. Experts say this is no longer enough, but people who use government facilities have very few other tools available to help them stop.

Independent research shows 54% of cigarettes sold in South Africa are illegal, which means the taxman is losing revenue, and the country’s anti-smoking plans are becoming less effective. Watch this to find out why.

British American Tobacco in South Africa says 200 of its workers will be out of a job soon, but public health researchers argue they’re using misleading figures to back the retrenchments.

The lead industry is funding researchers and United Nations bodies to paint its toxic products in a favourable light, says this expert, despite the evidence that lead exposure harms children’s development.

South Africa’s health facilities aren’t geared up to help teens with TB to complete their treatment. As a result, the preventable, treatable disease was the leading cause of death among adolescents in South Africa between 2008 and 2018.

The Foundation for Professional Development, one of South Africa’s oldest nonprofits and the main sponsor of the TB conference in Durban, accepted a R2-million research grant from an organisation that’s widely regarded as a front group for Philip Morris International.

Smoking in the west is declining. So the tobacco industry is looking to untapped markets in lower-income countries to hook new smokers.

Public health experts agree with the vaping lobby that smokers need more help to quit. They disagree, however, with the industry’s argument that imposing a sin tax on vapour products will lead down a similar path as the state-sanctioned Aids denialism of former President Thabo Mbeki’s administration.