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Why the Competition Commission’s cancer drug cases are important
There is a history of competition law being used to drive HIV medicine prices lower in South Africa. Now, two cases involving cancer medicines...
Almost 40% of the world’s anti-HIV pill users live in South Africa
By the end of August, 1.65m HIV-negative people in South Africa had used an anti-HIV pill at least once, making the country’s HIV prevention...
SA’s diabetes crisis needs urgent response
According to the recently released Diabetes Summit report, around 4.2m South Africans are estimated to be diabetic, while Percept, a Cape Town-based consulting firm,...
Blood test trial to detect multiple cancers 'overhyped'?
A blood test promising to detect more than 50 types of cancer – currently being trialled in large numbers of people in England –...
Judgment reserved on new Limpopo Health MEC
The deployment of the relatively unknown Dieketseng Mashego as Limpopo’s new MEC for Health has raised eyebrows, writes Spotlight’s Ufrieda Ho, who rounds up...
Why Motsoaledi trumped Phaahla to the top heath job
How did Aaron Motsoaledi, rather than Joe Phaahla, land the position of Health Minister in the government of national unity, and why was Phaahla...
What to expect with Motsoaledi’s return
In some respects, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi was the right person for the job when he was appointed as South Africa’s Minister of Health in...
Lest we forget, the AstraZeneca vaccine also saved millions
Last week’s announcement that AstraZeneca would no longer market its Covid vaccine brings an end to one of the century’s most remarkable medical stories.
Although...
Racial inequities in health persist in SA
Thirty years after the end of apartheid, striking inequities in health persist between racial groups in South Africa, even after accounting for socio-economic indicators.
Writing...
The lucrative business of Covid misinformation
The groundswell of support for anti-vaccine proponents during the Covid-19 pandemic translated into millions of dollars generated in support for a number of groups,...
How your smell gives clues about your health
Hundreds of chemicals stream from our bodies every second, releasing into the air easily as they have high vapour pressures. This means they boil...
The decades-long struggle to get ineffective decongestant off the shelves
Dr Leslie Hendeles began prodding the US Food and Drug Administration to reject a decongestant in cold medicines decades ago – when Bill Clinton...
Failure to obtain informed consent – a criminal offence?
A plethora of literature suggests failure by a medical practitioner to obtain informed consent from a patient amounts to assault. However, writes attorney MS...
New dawn or more of the same with HPCSA leadership change?
The track record of registrars at the troubled Health Professions Council of South Africa is embarrassing – 11 registrars in 11 years – admits Dr...
Chinese scientist raises Covid lab leak theory
A former top Chinese Government scientist has said the possibility that the Covid virus leaked from a laboratory should not be ruled out, and...
Weighing the risks to older people if more children are vaccinated against chicken pox
Although some countries are concerned that vaccinating children could lead to a rise in severe chickenpox cases among older unvaccinated people, a recent study...
Is it time for South Africa to invest in 4th generation HIV tests?
South Africa’s mass HIV testing programme has been a huge success over the past 10 years, with the country almost at the global target...
Accolades for Sahpra in 2022 but challenges remain
There is more awareness of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (Sahpra) status as the national regulatory institution, but the understanding of its...
How and why paediatric pain management falls short in South Africa
When healthcare experts from the public and private sectors were asked in a survey how effective they thought infant and children’s pain was assessed...
Healthcare workers can play key role to help domestic abuse victims
State plans to improve its health systems' response to domestic violence have largely failed to take off, but now there is a fresh opportunity...