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Opinion

The Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Bhekisisa is one of only a few media outlets in the Global South specialising in solutions-based narrative features and analysis. We not only uncover problems but also critically evaluate the solutions meant to fix them. It’s an approach we also take with our opinion pieces.

What makes a good op-ed? What can I expect from the editing process? Who do I pitch a possible opinion piece to? Get the answers to all these questions along with some handy writing tips here before you make a submission.

A voucher-based initiative to get women to nurse their babies is causing a stir

Breast may be best, but bribing mothers to nurse is not

There are many advantages to breastfeeding but should mothers be bribed to do it?
Doctors and nurses were held at gunpoint to stop giving patients treatment.

We can stop the haemorrhaging

South Africa has the means and opportunity to keep its healthcare professionals.
The same number of South African boys and girls start school

Bring back the lost girls

This country must find ways to keep girls in school and educate them about HIV prevention.
Most medical aids won't cover a new

Staunching SA’s pregnancy wound

Unless the state's plan to curb maternal deaths is wholly implemented, it won't make a dent.
Most of the people surveyed in an informal study did not believe penis enlargement 'medicine' was effective

Are penis enlargements worth your while?

Endowment policies differ, but most people agree that "enlargement" promises much, delivers little.
Unhealthy situation: The Eastern Cape health department shocked the community by shutting down the village clinic in Lusikisiki

Clinic victory – A shot in the arm for people’s rights

If the community stays vigilant, lives will be improved for many years.
Far cry: African countries have more than their fair share of healthcare issues.

Africa-China alliance can only benefit healthcare

China has reduced childhood deaths and illness from diseases that were once widespread.
South African patients qualify for HIV treatment if their CD4 count – a measure of a person’s immunity – is 350 or lower.

SA could turn dread into capital

HIV diplomacy can be used to help the country become a better, more influential global citizen.
Breastfeeding is one of the most powerful tools we have to tackle child mortality.

Superfood for babies

It's World Breastfeeding Week and government and Save the Children have joined forces to promote breastfeeding to save children's lives.
Life expectancy at birth is better in Singapore than in many developed countries .

Singapore slings health clues SA’s way

Its health system is comparable to the best in the world, achieved at a fraction of the cost of others.
Outdated discourse of treatment versus prevention ... obscures elementary points for which we currently lack a common language.

Common sense needed in HIV fight

A recent international Aids conference lacked input from those living with the HI virus.
Bhekisisa's first fellowship is coming to end and fellow

Bhekisisa journalism fellowships

Bhekisisa's first fellowship is coming to end and fellow, Sydney Masinga, speaks about his experience. If you're an interested journalist apply now.
South African patients qualify for HIV treatment if their CD4 count – a measure of a person’s immunity – is 350 or lower.

A chink in the armour of HIV

Media reports about HIV-infected people being cured of the virus should be read with caution but could these cases give us clues about an antidote?
Protection needed: Malaria kills more than a million poeple in the world every year - mostly children and preganant women

Our leaders must keep their word

Though progress has been made, Africa must continue the fight against Aids, TB and malaria.
Necessary care: Children who suffer from disabilities are often neglected and hidden away.

Vital service reaches far too few

Rehabilitation plans for the thousands of people with disabilities must be included in the NHI.
Research on carcinogens in the environment led to tobacco laws that helped to decrease the number of smokers in South Africa.

Death knell for cancer research

The state has pulled its funding of studies on the disease, retarding progress on a cure.