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Headman: ‘You won’t find a child born with HIV in this village’

Babies getting HIV from their infected mothers is rare in a cluster of 39 villages in the OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape — despite more than a third of pregnant women in this rural part of the province being HIV positive. Find out how an NGO’s peer-support programme here helps.

Will SA’s new vaping laws lead to more smokers instead of fewer?

The proposed Tobacco Bill will treat vapes like traditional tobacco products, banning public use and advertising, to stop young people from picking up the habit. But research shows that e-cigarette rules could lead to a spike in traditional smoking. Yet not everyone agrees. Here’s why it’s a tricky issue.

[WATCH] How a youth centre is fighting Westbury’s drugs and gangs 

In Westbury, Johannesburg, drugs and gangs overshadow daily life, trapping new generations in addiction and crime. While police crackdowns bring short-lived relief, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime tells Health Beat that affordable rehabilitation and medical treatment for drug dependents are better investments.

Health Beat 24 | Why does SA treat drug addiction as a criminal, rather...

Health Beat examines South Africa’s drug policy and finds out why policing and health are operating in silos, instead of following our National Drug Master Plan.

How breast milk can help fight climate change

A new proposal that aims to get more women to breastfeed, says it could cut back the greenhouse gas emissions that lead to global warming and get countries that produce the bulk of emissions to pay for it. 

How one woman set up a mental health helpline for the whole of South...

Zane Wilson founded the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) in 1994, in the midst of her own debilitating struggle with panic disorder. Thirty years later, the group is the largest and most impactful mental health organisation in South Africa. Bhekisisa’s Sean Christie found Wilson and several of Sadag’s staff in a proud and reflective mood.

Talks have started to get the twice-yearly anti-HIV jab registered in SA

Gilead Sciences, the maker of a twice-a year anti-HIV injection, has approached South Africa’s medicine regulator to discuss how to get the shot registered locally as fast as possible in the country. Sahpra will have to work with the European Medicines Agency on this, as it’s severely understaffed and unable to review medicines speedily.

[WATCH] How this Soweto project rolls out its own NHI

For the past decade, the Chiawelo Community Practice (CCP) in Soweto has tested how primary healthcare that starts within communities through things like exercise...

Almost 40% of the world’s anti-HIV pill users live in SA

By the end of August, 1.65-million HIV-negative people in South Africa had used the anti-HIV pill at least once, making the country’s HIV prevention pill programme the world’s largest. We break down South Africa’s latest anti-HIV pill numbers and explain how they fit into global targets.

Here’s where women in SA are most likely to get killed 

A woman’s chance of being killed in the Eastern Cape is almost double what it is in the country as a whole and about half as likely in Limpopo as in the rest of South Africa, results from the South African Medical Research Council’s fourth survey on femicide, reveal.

Is there hope for changes to the NHI Act? 

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.

[WATCH] A change of heart: Why this patient’s opinion of state hospitals changed after...

Will patients be able to get quality healthcare from public hospitals once the National Health Insurance is in place — whether for lifesaving operations like heart surgery or routine check-ups for things like blood pressure or diabetes? Bhekisisa’s Health Beat team talks to a patient and his doctor at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital about their experiences — and what state hospitals can offer if run well.

Health Beat 23 | What the NHI could be — if run well

Our Health Beat team takes you on a tour of some Gauteng hospital success stories — from an NHI-like project, the Chiawelo Community Practice in Soweto, to the lifesaving cardiothoracic surgery unit at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.
South Africa needs to get more than 550 000 HIV-positive men on antiretrovirals before the end of next year to help the country meet its targets for ending Aids by 2030. But in the past it’s been difficult to get men to take up — and stay — on HIV treatment. Could building an all-male sports-like team with a coach help solve it?

Players, coaches and teams: Here’s how men could help SA score an HIV goal

South Africa needs to get more than 550 000 HIV-positive men on antiretrovirals before the end of next year to help the country meet its targets for ending Aids by 2030. But in the past it’s been difficult to get men to take up — and stay — on HIV treatment. Could building an all-male sports-like team with a coach help solve it?

Could smart lockers help people to stay on their meds? 

What’s a Pelebox and can it make medicine collection in the public health sector easy enough for people to fetch their meds each time? People in the Eastern Cape are desperate for such solutions — but can the provincial health department afford it?

MomConnect turns 10: Why the state could soon send flood and heatwave warnings to...

MomConnect, a health department mobile app, which close to 5-million moms who rely on public health services have used, turns 10 today. The app was put in place to make giving birth safer and could also have an exciting new feature soon: sending early warnings about dangerous weather to pregnant women and moms of young children.