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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. 

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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, 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.

The government is facing close to R78-billion in medical negligence claims, which is nearly 80% of the budget used to treat people when they’re sick. But not all of the cases are legit. Find out what the data reveals.

Data from the latest District Health Barometer show that close to 365 teenagers give birth in South Africa every day. Ten of those daily teen births are to girls younger than 15. Experts say the numbers reveal deeper issues in society that lead to a vicious cycle — from school dropouts to unemployment and poverty across generations. We unpack the numbers.

By 9 September, South Africa had 25 laboratory-confirmed mpox cases in three provinces (Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape), with three people dying from the virus.

On Wednesday, Parliament’s newly appointed portfolio committee on health sat to discuss the proposed new Tobacco Bill for the first time since the government of national unity was formed. In 2021, more than a quarter of South Africans older than 15 used tobacco. We break down three tactics Big Tobacco uses to stall the Bill’s approval.