‘HIV testing was compulsory. If you didn’t test, they wouldn’t treat you’
The struggle to survive pregnancy and death in a land of plenty and poverty hasn’t changed much in the past five years — there are lives to prove it.
Pills and phone calls: How COVID restrictions forced us to conduct abortions telephonically
COVID-19 forced many people’s jobs online – even for doctors who provide abortions. Read what Marie Stopes learned when they helped nearly 50 patients terminate pregnancies over the phone.
Life Esidimeni patient deaths are a wake up call that came too late
The callous disregard shown at many levels for the wellbeing of vulnerable people proved fatal.
Is one of Africa’s most important lakes really shrinking?
Our two-year study shows the lake has been stable since the 1990s. Costly ‘solutions’ shift focus from the complex causes of the region’s deadly...
How a better death starts long before we’re dying
When one man was on his deathbed, his family knew how he wanted to die and could respect that.
Finding an HIV vaccine: Five lessons from the search for a COVID jab
The COVID pandemic has revealed that vaccine development and testing timelines can be shrunk from decades to months. But not without its shortcomings. Here’s a look at what lessons we can learn from the search for a COVID jab.
Service delivery starts with data. See who’s been missing from the spreadsheets
Without accurate data, maginalised groups risk being left behind - again.
‘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.
This country has upheld its ban on gay sex. Here’s why it could be...
“The failure to decriminalise consensual same-sex relations will undermine Kenya’s aim of reaching universal health coverage,” UNAids says.
The cruel collusion that devastates young doctors learning how to deliver babies
Health workers-in-training say they feel forced to abuse birthing patients as part of a dark rite of passage on the road to becoming a doctor or midwife. This final year medical student explains how these experiences can shape the country’s future doctors.
Curing a sick system: Doctors and nurses must speak out for patients and themselves
Medicine shouldn’t be the only thing on the books at our medical schools. Here are some tips for healthcare workers to handle abuse.
If we invested in this today, South Africa could save billions — and fight...
Community healthcare workers have become what some have called our “heroes on the ground” during COVID-19. By keeping more people healthier for longer, and...
Too poor to care? The call for a minimum wage has exposed a sick...
Care workers may be the backbone of community health care but they sure aren’t paid like it
‘I thought drug users just made bad choices. Then this happened’
Until two years ago, it was Sibonelo Gumede’s job to help developers get rid of people who used drugs in neighbourhoods. Then his life changed.
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.
Obesity weighs heavily on Africa’s meagre resources
Big Food is just one driving force behind unhealthy eating, and strategies are needed to cut the high cost of associated diseases.