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Lifting a load: Aerobics is helping sometimes suspicious elderly people in Diepsloot to deal with mental illness in their families and community.

Gogos step up for peace of mind

Depression among the elderly is largely overlooked, but exercise can help to counter it.
The mother of four-year-old Themba died weeks after his birth. He is being raised by his grandmother Sophie

When mother is snatched away, Gogo picks up the pieces

South Africa's maternal mortality rate leaves the elderly to deal with its consequences, with many unable to keep up.
Costly exercise: When Rio de Janeiro celebrated World Aids Day in 2007 it was with the knowledge that patent laws had driven up the cost of Brazil's Aids programme.

Brazil’s sick of patent exploitation

The country is fighting the intellectual property laws that hiked up the cost of its HIV programme.
Dire working conditions pit doctors' rights against those of patients

Will strikes pit the rights of doctors against those of their patients?

The quest for better working conditions leaves striking doctors with a tough decision but they might not have to choose.

Son of Sekhukhuneland: Why Motsoaledi won’t let go of the NHI 

When our profile writer, Sean Christie, asked Aaron Motsoaledi for a form of life story share, South Africa’s health minister responded with a swift biographical flyover. But Christie was more interested in a sense of the experiences that lie behind the bullet points, both good and bad.
The NPA offered to drop charges against community health workers if they admitted guilt

Layoffs prove to be a bitter pill to swallow

Ill residents may suffer most after the axing of Free State community health workers.
Researchers warn that the scale up of medical male circumcision should go hand in hand with a plan to maintain quality.

Circumcision: Child’s death scares off patients

Work on HIV prevention may be undone after a boy has died after a medical circumcision procedure.
Hezekiel Nyoni hails a taxi to make the 70km trek to Barberton to get treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

TB strain: Resistance is fertile

SA's strategy to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is noble, but cracks are showing.
Many couples find that problems with their sex life can have severe repercussions for their relationship if they are not addressed.

The little blue bounce lifts our love up where it belongs

Rekindling the sexual fire of a once passionate marriage has sparked a deeper emotional link.
The Lagos state government has initiated a vaccine campaign for children in rural villages.

‘There is hope this evil illness will not befall us again’

The residents of a Nigerian village had no health services, save for traditional methods, to treat those with a fever and a rash.
Cape Town photographer

Mo Bros face the figures – and it’s going to be a close shave

Will local facial hair campaigners be able to raise more than last year's R7-million for men's health issues?

How one woman set up a mental health helpline for the whole of South...

Zane Wilson founded the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) in 1994, in the midst of her own debilitating struggle with panic disorder. Thirty years later, the group is the largest and most impactful mental health organisation in South Africa. Bhekisisa’s Sean Christie found Wilson and several of Sadag’s staff in a proud and reflective mood.

Yogan Pillay, SA’s healthcare’s insider outsider

Yogan Pillay has worked under every health minister since 1994, making him the ultimate healthcare insider. Now he’s an outsider, but one with tremendous influence. Sean Christie visited him at home in Pretoria to hear what he’s been up to.