Podcasts

The promotion of e-cigarettes has led to a rise in vaping. Bhekisisa’s three-part narrative podcast looks at how vaping has evolved in South Africa and finds out if it’s a useful innovation in a world where regular cigarettes are becoming unacceptable. Or is it simply another method of delivering nicotine to a lucrative new and younger market?

Several HIV treatment clinics in Cape Town, Johannesburg and the Eastern Cape, funded by the US government, temporarily closed down this week after receiving stop-work orders from the new Trump administration. Waivers have since been announced for projects handing out lifesaving medicines, but everyone’s confused as to whether their projects qualify.

To many, especially young people, vapes look good, feel good and taste good. But are they any less harmful than conventional cigarettes? A Bhekisisa podcast explores the world of vaping.

At first, vaping seemed like a useful innovation in a world where cigarettes are becoming unacceptable. But is it a safer alternative? Bhekisisa’s podcast “Vape Universe” explores — and enters the world of those who are hooked.

With vapes being punted as an alternative to smoking, Bhekisisa’s three-part podcast looks at how the new trend shapes South Africans’ nicotine habits and how hard it is to give up, despite claims that e-cigarettes can help you ditch conventional smokes.

On 20 January, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the new US president — for the second time. An international HIV expert says a Trump administration will question South Africa’s decades-long partnership with the US government’s Aids fund, Pepfar.

By the end of October, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) will submit a proposal to President Cyril Rampahosa with solutions to their concerns about the National Health Insurance Act. This follows a September meeting with the president. But is there hope for change? In this podcast, Mia Malan asks Ramaphosa’s special advisor, Olive Shisana, and Busa CEO, Cas Coovadia, what to expect.

Most people with mpox recover without treatment. But all South Africa’s cases, so far, have had to be hospitalised; all cases were also infected with HIV, which was mostly untreated. In this podcast, Mia Malan asks Jacqueline Weyer of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases how large the country’s mpox outbreak will be.

Towards the end of the year, donated batches of the anti-HIV jab, CAB-LA, will arrive in South Africa. The two-monthly jab will be used in implementation trials and virtually wipes out someone’s chances of contracting HIV through sex. How much will donors and the South African health department have to pay for such injections and can the drugmaker, ViiV Healthcare, make enough of them? In this podcast, Mia Malan asks Mitchell Warren, who leads a group of organisations and donors who look at ways to make the jab available as fast as possible, for answers.

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

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.

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

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.

South Africa's second monkeypox case was confirmed on Tuesday — a 32-year old man from Cape Town. The first case was confirmed on June 22 and was a male, 30, from Johannesburg. Neither of them have a travel history.

Bhekisisa has published a COVID-19 infographic every day for more than two years. This project is now coming to an end. Find out what it took to distil the health department’s data into bite-sized chunks.

Should you exercise a lot, or a little? Should it be in the morning or at night? Go with Mia Malan and Jon Patricios as they cut through the fads in this easy guide to heart health.