Short Form

Short Form Journalism by the Bhekisisa Team

Maternal mortality in Uganda continues to be a development challenge.

Save a little money, save a little life

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A grassroots Ugandan health initiative has significantly reduced maternal deaths.
Cataract surgery will become part of Madagascar's universal healthcare programme.

Truth about cataracts is plain to see: They can be treated

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More developing countries are offering sight-saving surgery in their public health systems, but specialist eye surgeons are in short supply.
Bikers travel to health communities to deliver TB treatment.

Bikers go full throttle to speed up TB cure in Zimbabwe

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A programme with the health department sees motorbikes being used to deliver drugs to people in far-flung places who can't afford the fare.
Keneth Ndua demonstrates his stove invention

Ndua’s stove keeps a lid on cholera in Kenya

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Women said they couldn't afford to boil water and cook, so a local inventor rolled up his sleeves.
Ellena Baziliyo and her daughters.

Malawi drought: “I’m pregnant, but I’ve got nothing to eat.”

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Some rain has fallen yet crop yields are still expected to be poor, but aid programmes have opened the door to a more sustainable future.
Social justice organisation

Game-changing technology for blind people – at a price

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Groundbreaking technology could revolutionise the future for the blind - but the exorbitant costs make it inaccessible.
An Apostolic woman walks along train tracks on her way back from a mountain prayer session.

Mothers and babies at risk in Apostolic church ‘birth camps’

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Leaders of Zimbabwe's Apostolic sects are warming to the idea of women giving birth at health clinics.
Remote: Zodwa Zulu*

It’s only 32km to the state clinic, but for the poor that’s a world...

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Some residents in rural towns in Mpumalanga have to chose between buying food or going to the doctor.
Goodness Mbatha says the Treatment Action Campaign protested about conditions at Mamelodi Hospital.

Labour contracts stall upgrades to Mamelodi Hospital

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The Gauteng health department has admitted to problems at the facility, seen by the public protector.
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

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Depression among the elderly is largely overlooked, but exercise can help to counter it.
Not feeling it: A funeral parlour worker says there is not much for the youth to do in the Limpopo town of Makhado

In Makhado, the cat’s in the cradle

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'Cat' or 'intash' joins tik and nyaope in the playground as dealers target bored children.
Khayelitsha has one of the highest TB burdens globally, and health care professionals work long hours to help patients fight the deadly lung infection.

If SA wins the fight against TB, the world will benefit

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South Africa lost nearly 100 000 people to TB last year – three-quarters of whom were HIV-positive. Reducing the burden will benefit the economy.
Despair: Lindiwe Mkwanazi didn’t know what was wrong with her until a biopsy showed she had tuberculosis in her knee. She struggles to walk so her mother

Undercover tuberculosis: How SA’s top killer slips in under the radar

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Healthy lungs don’t mean you’re off the hook: tuberculosis can take root anywhere in the body.
The notion of violence as a national health priority has yet to take hold

Violence-laden South Africa’s burden of disease

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The notion of violence as a national health priority has yet to take hold, even among health professionals.
At the African Children's Feeding Scheme in Soweto children are guaranteed three meals a day.

‘Magic bullet’ to feed the world by 2030

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A change in mind-set is required because feeding schemes alone cannot put an end to malnutrition.
Cool dudes: Steve Mululu

Bigger biceps aren’t always better

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Men’s quest for the perfect body has reached the ‘bigorexia’ tipping point.