This TB drug’s price just dropped by 80%. Meet the SA activist who helped...
Johnson & Johnson won’t be allowed to extend its patent on a life-saving TB drug in India, opening the door to cheaper generics for governments that buy the medicine from companies in that country.
[ICYMI] What Africa’s journalists should do differently in the next pandemic – Bhekisisa/Pulitzer Centre...
In collaboration with the Pulitzer Centre, Bhekisisa is hosting a webinar for African journalists on 29 March focusing on the role the media can play to increase the uptake of life-saving medicines.
How much do state nurses, porters and cleaners earn?
State health workers will remain cash strapped as the South African government battles to rein in its massive public sector wage bill, which makes up 15% of the goods and services produced in the country.
You might be getting antidepressants from a professional nurse soon. Here’s why
The health department plans to train professional nurses to prescribe pills for common mental health disorders, according to the final version of South Africa’s new five-year (2023 - 2028) action plan for HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
How good is your province at curing the most drug resistant TB?
South Africa’s tuberculosis (TB) tracking data is far from complete but we’ve compiled an interactive map to show how well each province fared at curing the most drug-resistant form of TB (according to the best available data).
How the health department bends the law to gag health workers – report
Follow the launch of a report of the Campaign for Free Expression that delves into the importance of freedom of speech for health workers to curb the collapse of South Africa’s public health system.
Bad habits: How the government can help you quit smoking — but isn’t
South Africa’s anti-smoking policies rely on increased sin taxes to cut smoking rates in the country. Experts say this is no longer enough, but people who use government facilities have very few other tools available to help them stop.
Sewage & DIY antiseptics: A year at Rahima Moosa with SA’s health watchdog
The health ombudsman, Malegapuru Makgoba released findings on complaints with regards Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Why SA’s cancer activists are stuck in an endless loop
There’s no sign that South Africa’s intellectual property laws will change anytime soon, public health experts say. That means pharmaceutical companies will keep abusing the country’s weak system — and keep the profits rolling in.
Will a shake-up in sports science change SA rugby?
A plagiarism scandal has rocked the sports world and cast fresh doubt over the influence of the industry in research on head injuries. It also stirred up old allegations that sporting bodies have underplayed the risk of an incurable disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Safe, not seedy: How sex work changed after two decades of decrim in New...
In South Africa, 70% of female sex workers in a countrywide survey conducted in 2019 said they’d experienced violence from clients in the previous year. Find out how things change when sex work isn’t illegal from workers in New Zealand.
Job rights, better healthcare and taxes: What life could look like for SA sex...
The justice department is currently reviewing comments from activists, academics and civil society on a proposed new law to decriminalise sex work. They will then ask the cabinet to take it to parliament before it can become law. Mia Malan interviews Deputy Justice Minister, John Jeffery, and United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, about what's next for sex workers.
Bloody politics: Meet the politician who plans to end period poverty
Gloria Orwoba, a Kenyan politician, is on a mission to end period poverty in that country, where government statistics show over half of women cannot afford products such as pads. Orwoba is pushing for them to get free sanitary products.
#Budget2023: Peer inside the health sector’s purse
There will be no increase in the tax on sugary drinks until 2025, the Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced during his budget speech on Wednesday.
City planners, street vendors & spaza shops could help keep SA fed. Here’s how
Local governments back many projects where people can grow vegetables in urban areas. But researchers say that it’s not enough to curb hunger in South Africa’s growing cities.
STI home tests could be coming to SA’s free medicine pick-up points
Big changes are coming to South Africa’s fight against sexually transmitted infections, according to a draft of the country’s fifth HIV action plan.