Multimedia

[WATCH] Is snoring a sign of a sleep disorder?

Sleep apnoea means you stop breathing for some time while asleep. Your brain then tells your body to wake up so that you can get much-needed oxygen. Picture this happening 42 times an hour every night. That’s what Juanita Herholdt used to go through before getting tested and treated for this sleep disorder.

The health department’s NHI branch appoints two new chief directors. Here’s what you need...

The appointments for the heads of two more of the five directorates of the National Health Insurance (NHI) were approved on Monday. These two positions will oversee user and service provider management and healthcare benefits and provider payment design. In the latest episode of Bhekisisa’s monthly TV show, Health Beat, Mia Malan asked the health department’s Nicholas Crisp and Sasha Stevenson from Section27 how the NHI will play out.

Health Beat #16 | Why the upcoming Tobacco Bill treats e-cigarettes like smokes

Are e-cigarettes healthier than traditional smokes? The vaping and tobacco industries would have us believe that they are, but doctors and researchers are sceptical. We find out why young people are getting hooked on nicotine-enhanced fruity flavours — and break down the potentially deadly consequences.
In 2016

[WATCH] Why do more teen girls than boys have HIV?

Teen girls and young women in Africa are up to eight times more likely to contract HIV than their male peers. Biology, unequal access to education and bad laws all play a role in this. Find out more from this short video.

Health Beat #9 | Cancer and the NHI: Will patients see better treatment?

Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital’s radiation waiting list gets longer each year because of too few staff to operate life-saving cancer equipment. This episode of our monthly television show, Health Beat, puts these problems to the health department. Mia Malan asks if the National Health Insurance scheme can fix the country’s broken health system.

Why climate change makes pollution and lung diseases worse

Dirty air makes it hard to breathe. Add hotter days or extreme cold into the mix and it will become harder still, especially for people who already have lung problems. In the latest episode of Health Beat, Mia Malan spoke to Caradee Wright, a public health specialist at the Medical Research Council, about what climate change will mean for people who already struggle to breathe, and what can be done about it.

[WATCH] How should the government clean your tap water?

South Africa’s drinking water comes from rivers and dams, but it’s cleaned at water treatment works. Here’s how it’s done.

[PODCAST] ‘We’ve failed as clinicians’: This HIV doctor is changing how he treats overweight...

HIV doctor Francois Venter explains why the treatment of obese people reminds him of the bad old days of the HIV epidemic.

[LISTEN] Is this the new TB patient? About half of infected people don’t have...

About half of people who are infected with tuberculosis don’t have symptoms. Researchers still don’t know whether people with asymptomatic TB spread the bacteria to others, or whether they’ll always develop symptoms.

Why 32 000 SAns could die if we don’t switch to greener power earlier

South Africa needs to produce more electricity to end loadshedding. But at the same time we also need to move away from coal-fired power to fight global warming. In this tug-of-war, people who live close to power stations will keep falling ill from breathing in dirty air.

#TeamBhekisisa | From 2013 to 2023: Here’s what’s in a day’s work for Bhekisisa...

Mia Malan founded Bhekisisa in 2013. Since then the centre’s staff has grown from 3 to 20 full and part-time employees. Here’s what she’s had to do to make this happen.

[VIDEO] How to start your next HPV test at home

Cervical cancer affects almost 11 000 women a year in South Africa, leading to about 5 000 deaths. It starts with an infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV). If the infection is caught early enough, it can be treated to prevent cancer from developing in the first place. Doing a self-test for an HPV infection can help. Here’s how it works.

[WATCH] Why some parents are led to think e-cigarettes are healthy (they’re not)

“We are not saying tobacco should be banned,” says Tshweu Mosedi, an anti-tobacco activist who wants to keep e-cigarettes away from kids. He supports the new Tobacco Bill that will restrict vape marketing and sales. The Health Beat team meets Mosedi in Katlehong on Joburg’s East Rand, where fruity flavours and flashy adverts have tricked youngsters and parents into believing that e-cigarettes are healthy.

[WATCH] Why the NHI wants your medical aid premium

If the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill is passed in its current form, your medical aid will disappear in its current form. It’s not clear how the NHI will be funded, but raised taxes will be unavoidable — and the scheme will likely want your medical aid premium.
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Is a safe, legal abortion a human right?

Abortions became legal in South Africa almost three decades ago. Yet we still have plenty of unsafe, illegal abortions. Why? Mia Malan speaks to physician Tlaleng Mofokeng in this podcast.

[LISTEN] The world’s biggest HIV & TB programme has a new goal: Happiness

What do researchers, experts and policymakers think of South Africa’s new five-year action plan for HIV, TB and STIs?