News and analysis

Men who have sex with men can now take on-demand pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, safely.

A new study shows that female rape survivors are 60% more likely to contract HIV within a year or two after their rape than women who have not been raped.

Forty-four new National Health Insurance (NHI) positions, based at the national health department head office in Tshwane, will be advertised in the coming weeks and filled by January 2023.

A cheap antibiotic (called doxycycline) used to treat skin infections and to stop people from getting malaria could also work to prevent chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis, found a United States study in men who have sex with men and transgender women.

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).

Medicine shortages are common. But what happens when a shortage of an effective medication happens because people who the medicine isn’t intended for are drying its stocks? We explain here.

South Africa has published proposed changes, in the form of a draft Bill, to legislation that makes sex work illegal. If parliament votes in favour of the amendments, sex work will be decriminalised. Public comment on the suggested changes closed on 31 January.

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.

Tests done on water taken downstream of a manhole from which sewage leaks into the Vaal River came back positive for cholera.South Africa’s drinking...

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.

Between April 2020 and September 2022, 988 women were killed by their intimate partners, police data shows. In about the same time, the government achieved just 1 in 5 of the targets in its action plan to fight gender-based violence and femicide.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla will table his budget for the 2023/2024 financial year on 9 and 10 May. Get everything you need to stay on top of the developments, all in one place.

As South Africa’s teenagers line up to get their Pfizer COVID jab, many parents are concerned about the possible risk of heart inflammation. We break down the numbers behind this extremely rare side effect and why it shouldn’t deter teens from getting a shot.

Researchers have found a way to slash life-threatening bleeding after birth by 60%, according to a study presented at the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference in Cape Town last week.

South Africa plans to make opioid substitutes such as methadone available at all state clinics and hospitals over the next five years. Methadone helps wean people off drugs such as heroin. Here are the five things the government needs to do to get this right.

KwaZulu-Natal’s state facilities are in the lead when it comes to stocking HIV prevention medicines (97% of them do), and the Western Cape is last in line at 8%. But, the home of the Mother City is the only province in which men use HIV prevention medicine more than women.