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#UNGA78: How SA’s mRNA hub is teaching the world about preparing for the next...
We will see more pandemics like COVID in the future — which is why political leaders are convening in New York today at the United Nations first ever high-level meeting on pandemic preparedness. Being able to make vaccines locally can stop Africa having to be at the back of the queue waiting for medicines the next time round. Here’s how.
From start to finish: Five lessons for making mRNA jabs
The global rise in tuberculosis cases is showing no signs of slowing down. The need for a new vaccine is as urgent as ever, and now a local pharmaceutical company is joining the race to find one. Find out more about the work they did to propel themselves into this position.
The waiting game: Could SA’s poor policies be behind our organ donation crisis?
In South Africa, the demand for donor organs far outstrips the supply — not because people aren’t signing up for donation, but rather because there aren’t policies in place to manage the transplant chain. Spain, though, has managed to fix the problem in their country. Can we learn from them?
Company with false HIV ‘cure’ admits trial was not registered with regulatory body
Zion Medical can't explain the poor treatment Ugandan patients got as part of its 'trial' and its recent announcement may have added to the harm.
Taken by storm: Why climate change will make transactional sex more common
Researchers say transactional sex will become more common because of a rise in climate change-related droughts and floods. Droughts and floods cause financial hardship, and therefore increase the market for sex in exchange for rewards.
What HIV does to your brain — and how ARVs halt that
Left untreated, an HIV infection can cause inflammation in someone’s brain and lead to mental health problems. But antiretrovirals can stop it from happening. Mia Malan finds out how it works in this Health Beat interview.
SA doctors make up to 40 times more than those in Kenya and Nigeria
Government doctors in South Africa aren’t paid enough, says the South African Medical Association. Yet in a month, some earn up to three times more than their counterparts in other middle-income countries in Africa. What do our salary scales mean for filling vacant posts?
Are penis enlargements worth your while?
Endowment policies differ, but most people agree that "enlargement" promises much, delivers little.
Teletubbies and friends: Inside the bizarre science behind your child’s favourite show
What makes the world’s most successful children’s TV programmes so addictive – and so strange? Linda Geddes explores the research on kids’ TV, what it’s teaching us about childhood development, and how that can help make programmes for the better.
How does anti-HIV medication work — and would you use it?
Implementation trials start early 2024 in South Africa to help researchers find out what will make people use a two-monthly anti-HIV jab. Linda-Gail Bekker of the University of Cape Town, heads up one of the studies and spoke to Mia Malan on Bhekisisa’s TV show, Health Beat.
You can’t transmit HIV if you take ARVs correctly and are virally suppressed
Researchers once again confirmed: It’s impossible for HIV-positive people on treatment to transmit the virus through sex — this time among gay men.
Painkillers can be a big headache
Migraine sufferers may not realise that drug overuse can be a large part of the problem.
NHI: The problem with trying to kill two birds with one stone
The National Health Insurance scheme aims to solve two problems — fixing poorly-run health facilities and distributing the money available for healthcare in the country in a more equitable way — simultaneously. But trying to fix two things at once may make things worse, writes Dave Martin.
R13 000 for a packet of pills to thwart long COVID. Is it worth...
Up to one in five people can get long COVID — a condition in which someone keeps on feeling ill for months after their initial symptoms have cleared up. A drug called Paxlovid can lower the chance of developing the long-haul version of COVID. But at what cost?
A race to the bottom: Does SA’s new tobacco Bill have enough teeth to...
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?
Caught in the middle: When divorced parents use kids as pawns
When a child is emotionally manipulated by one parent to hate the other, the legal system and therapists grapple with how to help families repair their relationships. Here’s why so-called parental alienation cases are contentious.