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Kya Sand, a neighbourhood northwest of Johannesburg, is one of several suburbs overrun with illegal dumping sites. Health Beat speaks to residents whose health and wellbeing have been affected; and finds out how community activists are trying to get the City of Joburg to take responsibility.

The ANC has National Health Insurance, the DA thinks the answer to better healthcare lies in the private sector working with the public sector, and the EFF says we need a clinic in each municipal ward. So who is right? It’s for you to decide with your vote.

Geneveve Heinse, is one of an estimated 7.8-million South Africans infected with HIV. Over the years, treatment — and the stigma attached to HIV — have changed; yet each day, about 400 people in the country still get infected with HIV. Travel to Masiphumelele in the Western Cape with our Health Beat team to find out what treatment is available for free at government clinics today.

Malegapuru Makgoba, South Africa’s former health ombud, has seen the country’s health system grow, change and sometimes falter under six health ministers over the last 30 years. Mia Malan asks him what lessons we have learnt in this Health Beat show, Bhekisisa’s monthly TV programme.

When South Africa’s medical schemes lose R28-billion a year, it puts a dent in your pocket. What could private medical aid funds’ teams who work to get back that money teach the National Health Insurance? Mia Malan talks to Botho Mhozya of Discovery Health in the March edition of Bhekisisa’s monthly TV programme Health Beat.

The National Health Insurance scheme is supposed to provide all South Africans with the healthcare many have fought and died for. But citizens are wary of trusting politicians with the public purse and point to Tembisa Hospital on the East Rand as an example of how money set aside for health, has been used for anything but.

More and more studies are showing that vaping is not harmless and that electronic smokes should be regulated the same way as traditional cigarettes — and governments are getting on board. A lung health expert from the University of Cape Town tells Mia Malan why in the February edition of Health Beat, Bhekisisa’s monthly TV programme.

When you’re not feeling rested and refreshed after a night’s sleep, your thinking is fuzzy, your reaction time drops and you feel sluggish at work. But more and more research shows that sleeping poorly is a big public health worry. Today, on World Sleep Day, two experts explain why.

When e-cigarettes were first tested by cigarette smokers, there were complaints about them being too smooth. So propylene glycol was added to give users that harsh hit at the back of the throat they were used to. A lung doctor explains why the clouds of smoke that accompany vapes aren’t clean steam, but chemicals.

“We are not saying tobacco should be banned,” says Tshweu Mosedi, an anti-tobacco activist who wants to keep e-cigarettes away from kids. He supports the new Tobacco Bill that will restrict vape marketing and sales. The Health Beat team meets Mosedi in Katlehong on Joburg’s East Rand, where fruity flavours and flashy adverts have tricked youngsters and parents into believing that e-cigarettes are healthy.

Sleep apnoea means you stop breathing for some time while asleep. Your brain then tells your body to wake up so that you can get much-needed oxygen. Picture this happening 42 times an hour every night. That’s what Juanita Herholdt used to go through before getting tested and treated for this sleep disorder.

Implementation trials start early 2024 in South Africa to help researchers find out what will make people use a two-monthly anti-HIV jab. Linda-Gail Bekker of the University of Cape Town, heads up one of the studies and spoke to Mia Malan on Bhekisisa’s TV show, Health Beat.

Mapeseka Mabena has spent a decade getting her HIV patients to start and stay on treatment. Taking ARVs every day can be taxing, but Mabena motivates people with a reminder that meds can help them have HIV-free children and stop them passing on the virus through sex. She explains how in this video.

Around 500 people in South Africa get infected with HIV each day. A number that Mbali Jonas from the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation wants to reduce to zero. They’re doing this by telling youth about medications that can stop HIV infection. We take you to their communities and show you how they work.

Too much greenhouse gases going into the air from burning coal, oil and gas make the atmosphere warmer than it should be. This causes global weather patterns to change, aka climate change. Watch this animation to learn more.

The climate crisis is bad for people’s mental health — and it’s taken increasingly seriously at this year’s conference of the parties, COP28. In this interview from Health Beat, Bhekisisa’s monthly TV show, South African climate justice activist, Kumi Naidoo, explains what climate anxiety is — and what we can do about it.