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Opinion

The Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Bhekisisa is one of only a few media outlets in the Global South specialising in solutions-based narrative features and analysis. We not only uncover problems but also critically evaluate the solutions meant to fix them. It’s an approach we also take with our opinion pieces.

What makes a good op-ed? What can I expect from the editing process? Who do I pitch a possible opinion piece to? Get the answers to all these questions along with some handy writing tips here before you make a submission.

The Sisonke trial rewrote history. Eight lessons for the nationwide vaccine roll-out

Usually, the gap between designing a study and scaling it up to reach people on the ground takes years. Sisonke did it in a matter of 17 days – and rewrote history.
What started as a bizarre press release touting a "potential HIV cure" has gone viral leading media houses all over the world to lash out over firm Zion Medical's latest claims.

South Africa on the cusp of HIV vaccine breakthrough

Recently the first participants in the HVTN 702 study received jabs of a vaccine that could stop HIV in its tracks

The preventable trauma of COVID childbirth

A new global investigation has documented, in at least 45 countries, “shocking” and “unnecessary” breaches of laws and World Health Organisation guidelines intended to protect women and babies during the pandemic.
Santie Pretorius lost more than 100kg after undergoing bariatric surgery

My controversial 100kg revolution

Santie Pretorius details her weight loss journey, which included surgery, in a new book.
Coronavirus screening

Four reasons to be hopeful about South Africa’s coronavirus testing plan

In a grim news cycle, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize’s announcement yesterday that the country is evaluating rapid tests for the new coronavirus is something to celebrate.

Three things that will shape the national health insurance here … and beyond

Most governments in Africa agree: national health insurances are key to universal healthcare. Will growing private equity investments help make it happen?
Surviving the process of childbirth is still a battle for many women in Africa.

Birth, a measure of progress

Reducing maternal and newborn mortality has to be a priority if Africa is to reach its potential.
Making pretty: Occupational therapists and psychologists have found that colouring-in – alone or in a group – is good for people of all ages and health stages.

Colouring-in lightens grey matter

Colouring-in is for adults too and brings balance, mindfulness and helps the unarty to be creative.
community healthcare workers

Confused about the NHI? One of SA’s leading health economists breaks it down for...

Think you know what the National Health Insurance is all about? Diane McIntyre is one of South Africa's leading health economists and contributed to policy proposals for an NHI in the country. She explains how the NHI may change how healthcare is funded and delivered in South Africa in this edited extract from the Health Systems Trust's 2020 edition of its annual South African Health Review.
French scientists have singled out a mechanism that spontaneously 'cured' two people of HIV

Can we end Aids in Africa?

While much has been done to end Aids in Africa, more work by governments is necessary to move forward, particularly in SA.

What the field of psychology owes Black patients

Psychological research has mostly focused on white people. New research shows, however, that mental health support works better when it’s adapted to suit people’s cultural context.
National guidelines say babies should get nothing but their mother’s milk for the first six months of life. But fewer than one in 10 women makes it to six months.

‘I thought I’d breastfeed my baby for a year. That dream was short-lived’

We tell moms to exclusively breastfeed. But we don’t tell them about all the things that get in the way of that, including depression.

Will the National Health Insurance Bill go far enough to prevent corruption?

The National Health Insurance Bill was released on 8 August but a look at how well our mothers – and our finances – do in the public health sector does not bode well. Uncover the figures and the power structures that will shape the future of healthcare in South Africa. 

Rape increases your long-term risk of contracting HIV. Here’s what could fix that

Trauma care for rape survivors in South Africa has been crucially underfunded — and now there’s evidence of the HIV-related consequences.
The country's largest HIV lobby group

‘We can’t accept the new HIV, TB plan’ – Treatment Action Campaign

The country's strongest HIV lobby group won't back South Africa's HIV and TB plan just yet. Here are their demands.

A plea to parents: Listen to trans kids, not moral panics

The moral panic arising from unproven concepts such as rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) has made trans lives unliveable. Despite the lack of scientific evidence, ROGD has bolstered claims that coming out as trans during adolescence is a sudden unhappiness about your birth-assigned gender brought on by a social trend.