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Teenagers are sent to these camps to purge ‘The West’. They leave bruised and...

“Dhaqan celis” was a term used by Somalis that used to mean the practice of going back home to stay with relatives and learn more about your culture. But it’s taken on a whole new – much darker – meaning. Read more on this practice.

The cost of caring: Zithulele’s Ben Gaunt, one year later

In 2022, after a decade of service, Ben Gaunt, who led a team who transformed Zithulele Hospital in the Eastern Cape from a struggling public health facility into a poster child of excellence, left the facility. The drama, which followed the appointment of a controversial CEO, was well publicised. We spoke to Gaunt one year later.
Painful process: Dental assistants want to be registered - a move opposed by the South African Dental Association.

Dental work’s a kick in the teeth

Many dental assistants in private practices are paid very little and have to do menial tasks.
Four-month-old Samson Salo receives a dose of vitamin A at the Madamani Dispensary during Malezi Bora.

This costs just cents and could prevent half-a-million children from going blind

The substance is critical in pregnancy and in the development of children; a lack of it has dire consequences.
Meet Julius. Studies have shown that he can sniff out about 42% more TB cases than the average lab technician can detect with an ordinary microscope.

Angelina Jolie takes on her biggest role — as a TB-sniffing rat

Angelina might just have saved a life. But is there science to prove it?

‘If men are these monsters’: Life in the fray of SA’s gender-based violence projects

South Africa is rushing to roll out its first national gender-based violence action plan. But as bureaucracy and the coronavirus pandemic stall progress, violence against women continues unabated. And the hot spots that will receive extra resources, it seems, have been wrongly identified.
The paramedics don’t care about us. If we mention that the person has overdosed they won’t come, they won’t help us, especially if you are black.

#SliceofLife: ‘She made a joke out of my friend’s death’

When Mark died, emergency services left his body on the pavement in central Pretoria for hours.
Tholakele Memela sought help when she realised the symptoms for HIV and a sangoma’s calling were similar.

Sangomas learn to meld muti with conventional medicine

Traditional and Western healers team up to treat patients with HIV and tuberculosis because many people consult more than one health system.
Girls carry bottled water in Maputo

Could this be the second major city on the verge of a ‘day zero’?

Taps in capital city of Maputo being turned off every other day as climate change exacerbates southern African drought.
Honeybee harvesting pollen. WWF is piloting beekeeping and ecotourism initiatives in the Madagascan village of Kivalo.

What happens when you can’t fight climate change? You use what you’ve got to...

In Kivalo, where cyclones, overfishing and rising seas threaten livelihoods, beekeeping offers an unlikely alternative to fishing.

Skeletons and closets: How one university reburied the dead

Grave robbing in the alleged pursuit of science haunts the history of biological anthropology. See how one university is righting history's wrongs.
Elegant: E-cigarettes may not be as toxic as regular cigarettes

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire

Some researchers say e-cigarettes are less toxic than tobacco, but they are certainly addictive.
Sydney Mokoena has not been able to access a doctor for eight months.

Life-saving medical care not available to ‘people of nothing’

Appalling conditions in Free State hospitals reveal a health care system that seems to be corrupt from top to bottom.
Female genital mutilation is banned in Agamsaha village

Female genital mutilation: Hope blooms in Somaliland

Women in Somaliland are working together with an NGO to eliminate one of the most ancient and extreme practices of female genital mutilation.
Survivor: Thulani Sibisi

#SowetoMarathon: Why this prostate cancer survivor is running today

A marathon runner with prostate cancer uses his skill to promote awareness and encourage testing.

Suspicion, stigma and systems: Africa’s healthcare story

At a conference towards the end of last year, some of the great names in African public healthcare shared their lessons about what can — and can’t — work on the continent, from setting up new hospitals to implementing national health insurance. Sean Christie was there.