Can you pause a pandemic? Inside the race to stop the spread of COVID-19...
Tracing the close contacts of people who test positive for coronavirus disease is a delicate dance. Here’s why these health workers...
A new kind of chemistry: Why science is rethinking the humble bed net
Disease-spreading mozzies may be getting wise to our best defences, but science is fighting back.
A parent’s place? Meet the women fighting for space at SA’s rural hospitals
Botched births and infections can leave many babies with a life-long inheritance: Cerebral palsy. Many will be dependent on caregivers for...
The long walk back to yourself: How this hospital revolutionised rural rehabilitation
Bhojana Mathunywa was attacked by four men for bag of tobacco. Now, slowly but surely, this team of rural therapists is helping him recover the everyday skills he lost. (Dylan Bush, Bhekisisa)
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...
My many selves: How I learned to live with multiple personalities
For years, science battled to understand whether multiple personality disorder was real or not. Today, the condition is known as dissociative...
Headaches, heartaches & pregnancy: Could this stem preeclampsia’s deadly tide?
This silent killer stalks expecting mothers around the world and is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in South...
Life on a hotter earth: Depression, drought & decolonising mental health
As the climate crisis worsens, arid parts of South Africa are expected to get even hotter and even more water-scarce. In...
Cobras & cures: Why the world is running chronically low on snake antivenom
Each year, millions will be bitten by venomous snakes and for many, antivenom will remain painfully out of reach. Discovering why...
The magistrate’s tail: How these pets are helping child rape victims get justice
The testimony of his eight-year-old victim may put convicted rapist Nicolas Ninow away for life. Ninow was convicted of rape on...
Meet Zweli Mkhize, the man behind SA’s #COVID-19 response
Follow the country's health minister's journey from trainee doctor to his current role leading the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in...
Doing the ‘tramadol dance’: What this latest music craze says about Africa’s pill addiction
The illicit trade in this prescription pain killer has become the stuff of ballads and dance halls but its abuse is...
The WHO, the drug & women’s right to choose: The story behind dolutegravir
Take a look at the newest HIV treatment set to hit South Africa's shores in 2019.
How this country is beating anti-vaxxers at their own game
One in three French people think vaccines are unsafe, yet vaccine coverage in the country is rising. Here’s how they do...
‘Most complex health crisis in history’: Congo struggles to contain Ebola
Political, security and cultural complications – not least a refusal to believe that Ebola exists – have thwarted efforts to overcome...
This is what it’s like waking up during surgery
General anaesthetic is supposed to make surgery painless. Now there’s evidence that one person in 20 may be awake when doctors think they’re under.