News and analysis

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A rehydration robot, a pinch test & more: Tips to help health workers spot...

Follow our live coverage of the health department’s 23 May briefing on South Africa’s cholera outbreak.
Unlike other new TB drugs

Two drugs could be the key to quicker TB cures

Patients were no longer infectious after just two months of treatment — faster than almost all drugs ever recorded.
Where have almost two dozen Life Esidimeni patients gone?

Gauteng health department unable to trace 20 #LifeEsidimeni patients

Three years later, almost a dozen patients are still missing.
From Johannesburg to Mahikeng

Why is this 290-bed North West hospital catering for just 19 patients?

‘As doctors, we've advised each other to discharge stable patients and explain to there is nothing we can do.’

Cash for COVID: Why this controversial trial is asking people to voluntarily get infected

People who participate in a challenge trial volunteer to get sick in order to help scientists learn more about a disease. These studies have been used for diseases like cholera and malaria — and now for COVID-19.
The preliminary results of a four-year Competition Commission report show that schemes are paying up for hospital PMBs

Are the medical aids really fleecing you?

There's good news and bad news when it comes to PMBs.

Family of dead Gauteng psychiatric patient given the runaround by red tape

Sizwe Hlatshwayo may be the 38th patient to die after being moved from state-funded hospital care. It took almost a month for his family to find out.
Elated: ANC supporters welcome the news that higher education will be free for some but it may eat into the health budget.

What free education could cost us

Saturday’s surprise announcement could be the latest blow to the country’s bid for better healthcare.
Fewer than 15 countries on the continent fund more than half of their national immunisation programmes.

Vaccine lowers child pneumonia and meningitis by 70%

South Africa was the first African country to introduce the expensive but effective pneumococcal vaccine, Prevenar, into its immunisation programme.
The health department has proposed accrediting public hospitals to provide c-sections as a way of improving the safety of the procedures across the country.

‘Unnecessarily high’ Caesarean section rate is cause for concern

More women are having C-section births in SA, but authors of the 2013/2014 District Health Barometer warn that this increase is "a matter of concern".

Counting calories or carcinogens? How to pick the fake sugar in your tea

Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are found in many common foods and drinks, but a new study shows that these food additives could contribute to an increased risk of developing different kinds of cancers.
HIV is spreading faster among teenage girls and young women than in any other group in South Africa.

Read the National Health Insurance Bill

The Bill is the first step towards learning how the government plans to fund its shift towards universal health care.
Promising Ebola vaccines languished for years in research and development for more than a decade without funding.

Motsoaledi: Chronic disease on the rise in SA

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says a recent survey is proof that SA should be concerned with the prevalence of chronic conditions in the country.
Preliminary figures from Unicef estimate that more than 3 700 children in the three countries hardest hit by the outbreak have lost one or both parents to Ebola since March.

Rise in number of Ebola orphans

Restrictions hit the movement of a million or more Sierra Leone citizens living in five districts worst affected by the disease.
A participant of the HVTN 702 HIV vaccine trial receives her first dose ahead of the public launch of the vaccine in 2016.

Should everyone be getting the HIV prevention pill as part of clinical research trials?

Only some study participants have access to the tablet that can cut the risk of HIV infection by more than 90%.

Mutating toward mildness: How Omicron’s changes make it less deadly

The Omicron variant spreads rapidly causing surges in infections. But it doesn’t seem to be causing more severe cases. Still, there’s a need for caution as higher case numbers means more hospitalisations. Here’s what we know so far.