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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.

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.

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.

Thirty years into democracy, South Africa still struggles with rolling out mostly well-designed policies. But if the circumstances in which a health system has to work aren’t fixed, simply passing a law to give everyone access to healthcare won’t change things for the better. Here’s why.

Governments around the world use social grants to help the poor. It’s no different in South Africa. But what happens if the help is not enough? Find out from a family in the rural Eastern Cape.

Governments have the power to decide whether people live or die when it comes to health. On 29 May your vote will determine how well South Africa’s post-election government will look after your health. We’ve launched a series of analyses to break down what parties say they will do to fix the country’s health system.

Governments have the power to decide whether people live or die when it comes to health. On 29 May your vote will determine how well South Africa’s post-election government will look after your health. Today, we’re launching a series of analyses to break down what parties say they will do to fix the country’s health system.

In July, Rudo Mathivha handed in her notice at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, ending a rightly celebrated 25-year stint as head of the intensive care unit. It was after a truly terrible year. Her story underscores the extent to which quality healthcare for the country’s most vulnerable people remains at the mercy of the indifferent and the corrupt.

In 1969, Esther Mwaikambo became Tanzania’s first female doctor. Today, she is arguably also the country’s most famous. She tells Sean Christie how public healthcare in Africa has changed — and what she wishes for the future.

A dying baby’s kidneys could save an adult’s life. But it’s a tough decision — and one few grieving parents are willing to make. Would you?

The National Health Insurance scheme aims to solve two problems — fixing poorly-run health facilities and distributing the money available for healthcare in the country in a more equitable way — simultaneously. But trying to fix two things at once may make things worse, writes Dave Martin.

Why do pandemics such as Aids not automatically end when we have the medicine to control them? Because they play out in a world where inequality frequently prevents drugs from reaching the people who need it most, writes Mia Malan.

In South Africa’s rural areas, people often face a long, arduous journey to get to a clinic where they can pick up their HIV medicines. Not taking the drugs regularly will mean that the person’s health suffers, which can make it even harder to make the trip. The Bulungula Incubator in the rural Eastern Cape has figured out how to set up a medicine pick-up point closer to people’s homes.

In 2020, 1.9-million children were stillborn according to a new report from the World Health Organisation. Read how one woman’s experience of stillbirth inspired her to start a mental health support group for parents who lost a child during pregnancy.

Researchers have found a way to slash life-threatening bleeding after birth by 60%, according to a study presented at the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference in Cape Town last week.

In South Africa, a gene test that will tell you if you’re at risk for Alzheimer’s disease costs R3 600. But major organisations warn people against using these home kits without also getting counselling to help them work through the results — regardless of the outcome.