News and analysis

South Africans are disillusioned by government's lack of service delivery.

Why South Africa is sad – and getting sadder

War-torn Somalia spent more than two decades without a working Parliament, so why are Somalis happier than South Africans?
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The secret is in your cells: How the body can protect you from getting...

Omicron is the most mutated form of SARS-CoV-2 that the world has seen. These changes allow it to spread faster and outsmart your body’s natural defences. But the immune system has some tricks up its sleeve that help protect you from getting severely ill.
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.

ANC denies removal of Free State health MEC has to do with fraud and...

Benny Malakoane ‘did an excellent job’ despite tales of fraud, dismissals and hospitals in crisis.

Here’s what will happen in SA if the US reverses abortion rights

In the United States, the end of national abortion rights could be closer than we think. In South Africa, laws to permit terminations don’t have to be in trouble – people struggle to get abortions anyway.

Could new abortion rules in the US affect the world’s biggest state HIV fund?

The United States government has appointed the first African head of its Aids fund, Pepfar. John Nkengasong, a Cameroonian virologist with US citizenship, will need to establish the potential impact of America’s change in abortion legislation on Pepfar funding rules.
E-cigarettes are gaining popularity

The tobacco industry says vaping is 95% safer than smoking. Should you believe it?

Find out what you need to know with this latest article in our series separating tobacco fact from fiction.
An organisation in Mozambique had to close down half of its youth clinics after it lost two-thirds of its funding because it refused to sign onto Trump’s global gag rule policy.

‘Gag Rule will slow down the fight against Aids’

The damage caused by the controversial US policy will only start showing when it’s too late to reverse it, activists and researchers argue.
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Nearing the finish line: What do the latest COVID vaccine results mean?

The race for a COVID vaccine has four candidates nearing the finish line — with some getting ready to roll out before the end of the year. But what do the reported efficacy results actually mean and how much will doses cost? We break it down.
Can you guess how many provinces in South Africa have zero radiation oncologists?

Cancer Crisis: Where are South Africa’s radiation oncologists? Find out

Everyone knows about KZN's cancer crisis but no one is talking about the other provinces that operate on just one radiation oncologist — or less.
The doctor that once defended Mbeki

Shot-caller, calculated, master of survival. SA, meet your new health minister

Will Ramaphosa’s new health minister wield enough power to bring recalcitrant MECs to heel?

Wait, donate, demolish: Why millions of SA’s vaccines will never be used

Children between the ages of 5 and 11 are given smaller doses of the Pfizer vaccine than adults. That means the government will have to buy new vials and new needles for the vaccine programme to vaccinate this group which the health department doesn’t have the money to do.

Risks & benefits: New HIV drug combo could change the course of SA’s epidemic

South Africa's next chapter in HIV treatment holds amazing promise but unlocking it rests on our ability to have the kind of discussions with women — about risks, about contraception, about their agency — that we, truth be told, haven't been great at. Will this rollout be a chance to get it right finally?

Biovac will “fill and finish” Pfizer’s COVID jab. Here’s how tech transfer works

Biovac will become the first company in Africa to produce Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID jab — but they won't produce the vaccine from scratch. The SA manufacturer will import the drug substance (the active ingredient that makes the vaccine work) from Europe and "fill and finish" the shot in South Africa.
How to test for HIV at home

‘I would buy the HIV home test because it’s easier than being disrespected by...

South Africa is one of about three dozen countries that supports HIV self-testing, but will it catch on? Here's what people who live here had to say.
Going one day without betanoid can be life theatening - and it's been out of stock nationwide for months.

National cancer drug shortage may last until October

Pharmaceutical companies say that delayed drug registrations by the Medicines Control Council may have played a role in stock outs.
A non-surgical circumcision tool could provide a way for initiation schools to eliminate initiate deaths from traditional circumcision complications.

PrePex could cut down on botched circumcision deaths

A non-surgical circumcision tool could provide a way for initiation schools to eliminate initiate deaths from traditional circumcision complications.