Short Form

Short Form Journalism by the Bhekisisa Team

Could electric bikes clean the air in the country of a quarter-million motorcycles?

0
In 2019, diseases linked to air pollution killed 1.1-million people in Africa. Could electric motorcycles save lives with cleaner air?
Children's lives are saved in Libya by doctors who can do heart surgery in countries without decent health systems.

Libya’s war kills little children in need of heart surgery

0
The country's health system is ravaged, but a team of volunteer doctors visit regularly: operating on the desperate and training local medical staff.
Goodness Mbatha says the Treatment Action Campaign protested about conditions at Mamelodi Hospital.

Labour contracts stall upgrades to Mamelodi Hospital

0
The Gauteng health department has admitted to problems at the facility, seen by the public protector.
Tricky topic: Thami Mayo is a parent of a girl at Gonyane Primary School who told the M&G about the difficulties of discussing sex with his young child.

It’s no breeze to explain birds ‘n bees

0
The HPV vaccine roll-out is prompting parents to rethink how they talk to children about sex.
Most South Africans have the TB germ - so why aren't they sick?

Finding South Africa’s missing TB patients

0
For many tuberculosis (TB) patients, the road to a cure begins with a simple test. Today, South Africa is rolling out the world’s best technology...

The gravediggers of Kano: Why doctors and diggers alike face grim choices in this...

This country has more than 200-million people, so why has it only logged 22 000 coronavirus tests? Musa Abubakar used to dig two or three...

Bringing home baby when your bae is HIV positive & you’re not

0
Sperm washing, assisted insemination & long hospital waits — if you were lucky. This is what falling pregnant when you were HIV-positive used to...
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.

Slice of Life: ‘She made a joke out of my friend’s death’

0
When Mark died, emergency services left his body on the pavement in central Pretoria for hours.
The ANC maintains that Malakoane did an excellent job at the helm of the province's health system even after the Medicine Control Council shut down an unlawful stem cell "trial" at one of the province's hospital this week.

How a dying woman’s bed was taken by an ANC official

In the Free State, access to health services can depend on who you know, as the tragic case of one woman illustrates.
In the company of women: Judia

The village where men are banned

0
Inside the Kenyan village that began as a refuge for survivors of sexual violence.
Fight the rot: With both her feet now amputated

When hospitals don’t make the cut

0
Diabetic patients who aren't treated properly risk having the smallest cut lead to an amputated limb.
Sister Anna's work relies on donations from well-wishers and her Franciscan community back home

Nursing the hungry: How one Catholic nun has taken Malawi’s prisoners under her wing

0
As humanitarian organisations sound the alarm over high malnutrition rates among Malawi's prisoners, one woman is trying to help keep inmates alive.
In Pondoland

Man severely beaten for speaking out about his penis amputation

0
Three people have been arrested after a Pondoland initiate who lost his penis and spoke out about it in public was beaten for "shaming the custom".
Young refugees at Kenya’s sprawling Dadaab refugee complex are seen during a visit from Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.

How this 19-year-old fell prey to human traffickers

0
Unsafe in Somalia and unwanted in Kenya, refugees increasingly risk abduction in search of a better life.
A research team installs novel solar-powered mosquito traps on rural Rusinga Island in Western Kenya.

Beer and stinky feet could be a fatal combination – for mosquitos

Could a new manmade concoction of mundane odours stop malaria?
Clinics in Mozambique are testing the effect of rapid early diagnosis of HIV and treatment on babies.

​Technology speeds up diagnosis and HIV testing for babies in Mozambique

0
Technology has cut diagnosis waiting times, getting infants on to treatment sooner.