The Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism started off as a tiny health desk of three at the Mail & Guardian in 2013. A decade later, we are an independent media organisation with 20 full and part-time staff syndicating our stories to five mainstre …

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.

On November 7, Bhekisisa celebrated 10 years of health reporting. Policymakers, researchers and activists joined us in marking this milestone. We also sat down to discuss the twin threats of climate change and health.

The global rise in tuberculosis cases is showing no signs of slowing down. The need for a new vaccine is as urgent as ever, and now a local pharmaceutical company is joining the race to find one. Find out more about the work they did to propel themselves into this position.

The health department says ViiV Healthcare’s non-profit price for their anti-HIV jab, CAB-LA, is four times what it can pay. In 2022, just over 164 200 people in South Africa became newly infected with HIV. Can we afford to go without the shot?

In Paris today, experts on lung health from across the globe are coming together at The Union’s World Conference on Lung Health to talk about how TB research can help to thwart one of the planet’s top killers. We’ve put together a collection of our most recent coverage on TB to help you be part of the conversation

Climate change is to public health today what Aids was 30 years ago, experts say — and it could put a spanner in the works for ending Aids as a public health threat by 2030. Yogan Pillay writes in an op-ed today what lessons we can take from responding to HIV to tackle the health effects of climate change.

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.

The world is in a polycrisis — and climate change will highlight vulnerabilities and inequalities in healthcare. We need to understand how changing weather patterns will affect our health and draw on lessons from past research to help us become more resilient. Here’s what experts said at Bhekisisa’s 10th birthday celebration on Tuesday, 7 November.

A hotter Earth is a threat to human health. It means more floods, droughts and heatwaves, which in turn make many diseases spread faster. Higher temperatures also exacerbate air pollution, resulting in more damage to our lungs. In this Health Beat episode we show you why climate change is our next pandemic.