News and analysis

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.

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.

The health ombudsman, Malegapuru Makgoba released findings on complaints with regards Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We answer the biggest questions surrounding the current measles outbreak and explain who is eligible to get an extra vaccination.

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.

British American Tobacco in South Africa says 200 of its workers will be out of a job soon, but public health researchers argue they’re using misleading figures to back the retrenchments.

In South Africa, trade unions have a reputation for having workers’ back. But for many of the country’s community health workers, these organisations are no longer an ally.