News and analysis

Most medical aids won't cover a new

Women shun clinics over HIV tests

Pregnant women have spoken out about nurses forcing them to undergo testing without their informed consent.
Foreign spaza shop owners told the press last week they blamed recent violent looting in Soweto on allegations of fake food in the township.

No evidence of ‘fake food’, but tap water is sold as spring water, Motsoaledi...

But inspectors uncover counterfeit bottled water and spices.
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No shoes allowed: Why it’s best to go bare indoors

About a third of the dust in your home is carried in on the soles of people’s shoes, and some of it can be bad for people, such as microplastics or poisonous substances like lead. The solution is pretty simple and the science is clear-cut. Leave your shoes outside.
The 2016 World Aids Day special report focuses on what it will take to reach the 90-90-90 targets to end the Aids epidemic by 2030.

​#AIDS2016: Five things to watch out for at the International Aids Conference 2016

The International Aids Conference returns to Durban after 16 years. This year heralds the HIV prevention revolution that is underway.
Discrimination against HIV-positive people still continues

#AIDS2016: Employees, particularly domestic workers, report forced HIV testing

Coerced testing usually follows employer offers to pay for private medical care.
How to prevent HIV with a pill

Tshwane men to get the HIV prevention pill

By June, the health department will know more about how to roll out Truvada nationally to men who have sex with men.

South Africa is ‘extremely unlikely’ to have COVID vaccine results before next year

One of South Africa’s three COVID-19 vaccine trials was recently put on hold after a participant in the United Kingdom developed an unexplained illness. After an independent review, AstraZeneca’s candidate, which was considered to be a frontrunner in the field, is expected to resume locally this week. But results are still a long shot for this year, says the trial’s lead investigator.
The department of health has confirmed that the Health Professions Council of South Africa and some academic institutions have plans in place to ensure final year medical students graduate as Fees Must Fall protests continue.

#FeesMustFall: Plans in place to ensure Wits medical students graduate

Most of the country’s medical schools say final-year medical students will write exams
A bridge too far: Patients travel to Standerton from as far away as 30km away to visit the government clinic there.

Mpumalanga’s health is failing – but it won’t take its medicine

Poor management and leadership instability lead to R2-billion in irregular expenditure.
You can't treat what you can't count: No one knows how many people inject drugs in east and southern Africa.

Durban delays re-opening of city’s only needle exchange programme

The project’s closure six months ago forced some injecting drug users to share needles and risk infections such as HIV and Hepatitis C.
Cynthia

As if HIV treatment never happened and time stood still

In SA, HIV infection is no longer a death sentence but in countries like the Democratic Republic Congo, it's as if treatment never happened.
Governments should promote accurate knowledge about breastfeeding and implement policies — like paid maternity leave — to give women the time they need to breastfeed exclusively.

‘Forced’ sterilisation of HIV women violates rights

Women's advocacy groups are lodging a formal complaint against the "coerced" sterilisation of HIV-infected women, saying it defies state policy.
Washable pads could be a simple solution to maintain women's dignity - and keep them in the classroom

#AIDS2016: Protesters disrupt conference demanding free condoms in schools

Over a dozen young people have backed a declaration delivered to the health minister calling for free condoms and sanitary pads in school
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi will be met with court cases from the private healthcare sector while dealing with pressure from trade unions to speed up the process.

Motsoaledi strikes back at NHI critics

But the Free Market Foundation maintains the plan will cost the state more than it raises in taxes.

Why COVID jabs will stop new variants in their tracks — if we vaccinate...

SARS-CoV-2 variants are the virus that causes COVID-19’s way of surviving and spreading. The fewer vaccinated people there are, the more chance the virus has to evolve. Here’s where variants come from and how to stop them.
Daydreams of a health minister: The high-level meeting on TB this week in New York is in part the work of Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

SA experimental TB vaccine is the first in almost a century to slash new...

Scroll down to read the latest trial results as part of our live blog from the UN's recent high level meeting on TB.