Short Form

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

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

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.
The notion of violence as a national health priority has yet to take hold

Violence-laden South Africa’s burden of disease

The notion of violence as a national health priority has yet to take hold, even among health professionals.
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

Healthy lungs don’t mean you’re off the hook: tuberculosis can take root anywhere in the body.
At the African Children's Feeding Scheme in Soweto children are guaranteed three meals a day.

‘Magic bullet’ to feed the world by 2030

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

Men’s quest for the perfect body has reached the ‘bigorexia’ tipping point.
Disabled: Bongani Ngcobo has multidrug-resistant tuberculosis but has been refused a government grant

TB man’s shirt too nice for a grant

South Africa has disability grants but a doctor deemed his tuberculosis patient was not poor enough.
11-year-old Violet O’Dell had a large

Light at the end of the scalpel for more targeted brain surgery

A brave little girl inspired a new ‘tumour paint’ to indicate to surgeons which tissue to remove.
Bald facts: Lebo Ramafoko

Sometimes your locks run out

Alopecia or hair loss can devastate your self-esteem, unless you hold your head up high.
Get a whiff of this: The distinctive aroma of wine and the odour of human sweat trigger very specific emotional responses from the cortex of the human brain.

The man who can’t smell the roses – or his daughter

Loss of this sense affects taste and also damages a person’s sense of emotional place in the world.
Bullied: Pharmacist Alfred Mokoditoa refused a settlement offered by Hosmed on condition he withdraw all his civil claims and criminal charges.

Independent pharmacies take on medical aid ‘bullies’

Community chemists say racial profiling and gated network are putting them out of business.
Virginia Human

Cuffed for no crime, kicked to the kerb

Instead of the care she sought, a vulnerable patient found further distress in a PE hospital.
Falling short: Public health centres

Public health suffers if vaccines are not accessible

A Western Cape project is looking to make free vaccines available in private clinics, but the Eastern Cape has stopped the practice.
Reach out: Mobilisers select busy areas of the township

Man to man, sexual health needs are better met at male-only clinics

A centre employing only men has opened in Khayelitsha to address the needs of males uneasy about being seen at mixed-gender facilities.
Patients' removal from the hospital was opposed at every step by activists and families

It’s a nightmare when mental health medicine runs out

Mental health patients in Johannesburg's East Rand are hard hit by the unavailability of medication.
Alternatives: Residents of Mabeskraal in the North West are reverting to traditional medicine

Drug shortages send rural patients back to home remedies

The minister insists there is no problem, but too many health centre cupboards are bare.