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Government clinics often run out of contraceptive medicines, which has been the case since 2015. The latest Stop Stockouts and Ritshidze report shows that...

August has been an incredible month for Bhekisisa. With 360 000 unique visitors and just under 430 000 pageviews, our traffic went through the roof. Read our monthly newsletter to find out what we were up to in August — and what our top five stories were.

South Africa spends too much money on medical malpractice lawsuits and wants to pursue new ways to settle these cases out of court. Find out how mediation can help solve these disputes quicker and save the health department money.

On 22 August South Africa’s second — and highly controversial — presidential health compact was signed by the government and various sectors. The second compact is controversial because prominent organisations that served on the steering committee of the drafting of the first compact refused to sign it.

Compromise isn’t a word favoured by the Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, when it comes to rolling out universal healthcare, despite objections from some of the ANC’s coalition partners. Mia Malan sits down with Motsoaledi to find out how he plans to deliver National Health Insurance amid legal challenges, little money and a system that needs fundamental fixing.

Even if it means the end of the government of national unity, the bit in the NHI Act that says medical aids will effectively cease to exist, won’t be scrapped, says Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. But the Act could be adapted to allow everyone — including asylum seekers and undocumented migrants — to get HIV treatment.

Since July last year, a small revolution has been taking place at Mays Chemist in Melville, Johannesburg — and one that could make a real difference to HIV prevention in South Africa. But because of a drawn-out court case, a valuable opportunity to slow down new HIV infections in the country may be lost, researchers say.

When our profile writer, Sean Christie, asked Aaron Motsoaledi for a form of life story share, South Africa’s health minister responded with a swift biographical flyover. But Christie was more interested in a sense of the experiences that lie behind the bullet points, both good and bad.

Novo Nordisk’s deal with local manufacturer Aspen to produce insulin in vials aims to supply the diabetes treatment for Africa, but critics say it doesn't deal with the real issue: South Africans have a right to use insulin pens, but these are running out in public hospitals because of Novo Nordisk’s decision to not tender to sell it to the health department anymore.

Mzulungile Nodikida, Sanele Madela, Bongile Mabilane, Nhlakanipho Gumede and Godisamang Kegakilwe have one thing in common: they studied medicine in Cuba.Since its establishment in...

Extreme heat, heavy floods, air pollution and infectious diseases will make dealing with diabetes harder and increase rates of the disease, research shows. In the latest edition of Climate Connection, we unpack what changing weather patterns will mean for keeping blood sugar levels in check.

The Boikanyo Mentally and Disabled Children Centre in Temba in northern Gauteng is home to kids with cerebral palsy, autism and Down’s syndrome. But when they turn 18, many have nowhere to go.

Speed, scale and price would sway whether the drugmaker Gilead’s twice-a-year anti-HIV jab, lenacapavir, will be able to markedly slow down new infections in South Africa. What needs to happen for SA to get the jab? Find out.

Has psychiatric care in our government health system improved eight years after Life Esidimeni during which 141 mental health patients died because of negligence? Health Beat visits a community mental health organisation, talks to Section27, the Gauteng government and a counselling organisation, Heal SA, to find out.

The health department has asked drugmakers to submit prices, and how much they can make, of the two-monthly anti-HIV jab, CAB-LA — 18 days after it accepted a donation of 231 000 doses from the US government. The shot can cut down our new HIV infections by more than a quarter over 20 years. But will generic companies come in with a low enough price?

The world has 18 months left — until the end of 2025 — to reach targets countries like South Africa signed up to in 2021. So where’s SA at? That’s tricky to answer, because the country uses four different ways to track this — and the numbers are not the same. We break down which set of data the health department uses to report to UNAids and what the other sets are for.