Articles

Dirty air makes it hard to breathe. Add hotter days or extreme cold into the mix and it will become harder still, especially for people who already have lung problems. In the latest episode of Health Beat, Mia Malan spoke to Caradee Wright, a public health specialist at the Medical Research Council, about what climate change will mean for people who already struggle to breathe, and what can be done about it.

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 health department says ViiV Healthcare’s non-profit price for their anti-HIV jab, CAB-LA, is four times what it can pay. In 2022, just over 164 200 people in South Africa became newly infected with HIV. Can we afford to go without the shot?

In Paris today, experts on lung health from across the globe are coming together at The Union’s World Conference on Lung Health to talk about how TB research can help to thwart one of the planet’s top killers. We’ve put together a collection of our most recent coverage on TB to help you be part of the conversation

Climate change is to public health today what Aids was 30 years ago, experts say — and it could put a spanner in the works for ending Aids as a public health threat by 2030. Yogan Pillay writes in an op-ed today what lessons we can take from responding to HIV to tackle the health effects of climate change.

The world is in a polycrisis — and climate change will highlight vulnerabilities and inequalities in healthcare. We need to understand how changing weather patterns will affect our health and draw on lessons from past research to help us become more resilient. Here’s what experts said at Bhekisisa’s 10th birthday celebration on Tuesday, 7 November.

A hotter Earth is a threat to human health. It means more floods, droughts and heatwaves, which in turn make many diseases spread faster. Higher temperatures also exacerbate air pollution, resulting in more damage to our lungs. In this Health Beat episode we show you why climate change is our next pandemic.

In 1969, Esther Mwaikambo became Tanzania’s first female doctor. Today, she is arguably also the country’s most famous. She tells Sean Christie how public healthcare in Africa has changed — and what she wishes for the future.

A seven-year study across 12 000 people in two Indian cities shows that breathing in dirty city air for as little as one month can raise blood sugar levels. After a year of this, people have a higher chance of getting type 2 diabetes.

To help South Africa wipe out HIV by 2030, the country focuses on getting people who have a big chance of getting or spreading HIV access to testing and treatment. Researchers say that people with serious mental illnesses should be added to the list of these key populations in South Africa. Learn more.

From kissing to final base, people have to say yes before you can go on. We asked people in South Africa what consent means to them, and what influences their decisions.

Over 5 000 Palestinians have died since October 7, when an attack by the armed group Hamas killed around 1 400 Israelis, and led to heavy retaliation. A 35-year-old civilian in Gaza details life under siege.

More than a million public healthcare users in South Africa had started to use the HIV prevention pill by the end of May, with over half doing so in the past two years, health department data shows. But what must we do to make the pill — and a two-monthly HIV prevention injection — easier to get?

People with HIV have a big chance of battling with mental health problems. At the moment though, only doctors can prescribe psychiatric medicines. Could getting nurses to do this too help people with HIV to stay on their treatment, and so get infection rates down? Mia Malan finds out from a doctor who’s lived through HIV with his patients for the past 20 years.

From the pitch to print, health reporter Zano Kunene takes you on the journey of how his passion for sports led to writing on sports-related brain injuries.

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?