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HIV 2030 target unlikely, as funding crisis pummels global Aids response
The chances of the world ending Aids as a public health threat by 2030 are looking increasingly remote, according to concerned global health experts...
Gauteng Health and DA in spat over Tambo Hospital surgery delays
Gauteng Health has denied accusations that patients at Tambo Memorial Hospital have had their elective surgeries postponed until June 2027, amid claims by the...
Private Free State hospital helps reduce state surgery backlog
A private hospital in Bloemfontein has partnered with the Free State Department of Health to address the backlog of more than 4 000 cases,...
Rob Ferreira Hospital launches urgent repairs after HRC probe
A damning human rights probe exposing broken plumbing, chronic hot water shortages, and doorless toilets at an Mbombela hospital has prompted the Mpumalanga Department...
Digital tools help Zimbabwe’s HIV migrants stay in care
As thousands of Zimbabweans return home from South Africa in a wave of deportations and anti-immigrant sentiment, health experts warn that disruptions to HIV...
Indian health staff suspended over paediatric HIV cases
Pakistan has suspended 37 health officials, including doctors, after a mass HIV outbreak among children, reports The Lancet. At least 78 children contracted HIV...
What HIV got right, but obesity still hasn’t
As thousands of scientists, activists and policymakers gather in Rio de Janeiro for the 26th International Aids Conference this week, much of the discussion will...
People living longer, but not healthier – Lancet study
A major study published in The Lancet Public Health suggests that although people are living longer than ever before, many of those additional years...
Africa’s response to Ebola outbreak shows how to shape global health
Countries elsewhere must learn from the continent’s example and combat disease outbreaks by working together, not by closing borders, writes Safura Abdool Karim in...
Massive security upgrades after 100 break-ins at Gqeberha hospital complex
Despite the staggering statistics of more than 100 break-ins, burglaries and robberies at Eastern Cape health facilities last year – resulting in damages of...
Risks to local communities when migrants denied healthcare access
Healthcare workers and humanitarian organisations warn that South Africa’s anti-migrant campaign – and the disruption of their access to healthcare and any interrupted chronic...
UKZN teams help 74 patients in ‘surgical marathon’ effort
Urology specialists and trainees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) helped treat 74 patients during a five-day surgical marathon aimed at reducing elective surgery...
Union calls for jobs for doctors
Despite the critical staff shortages in the public healthcare system, at least 1 400 qualified doctors are still unemployed, according to the South African...
Shingles jab may also protect the brain, help ward off dementia
Could a shingles vaccine, which is now available in South Africa, also fight dementia? The evidence appears to be positive, writes Linda Nordling for...
Mental and general health strongly tied to loneliness – collaborative study
A recent collaborative study has suggested that loneliness can have a strong influence on health generally, with people who are socially isolated being far...
Pietermartizburg state hospital forced to use private cardiologists
A chronic shortage of specialists in state facilities – and the mounting difficulties of matching private sector salaries – has led to Pietermaritzburg’s Grey’s...
Motsoaledi defends limited LEN rollout
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has defended the limited rollout of the six-monthly injectable lenacapavir (LEN) – this as Gauteng Health last week announced that...
Rob Ferreira Hospital ‘has no hot water, no linen’, oversight visit finds
Nursing staff at Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela have to take kettles to work to ensure their patients have hot water for bathing, because...
The best – and worst – districts in SA in which to give birth
A total of 29 babies died every single day in South African public hospitals in 2024 before they were one-month-old, according to figures from...
Slash costs and spread with targeted LEN in pregnancy, breastfeeding
Targeted deployment of twice-yearly lenacapavir for pregnant and breastfeeding women without HIV in high-incidence districts in sub-Saharan Africa could substantially reduce vertical transmission at...
Rapid ageing in young adults tied to hike in cancer rates – US study
Scientists say that younger generations are ageing biologically more quickly than previous generations, which could explain why some cancers have risen faster in young...
Two TB researchers on getting the disease themselves
Being a researcher who studies TB in the lab is one thing, having the bug in your lungs is quite another. Spotlight’s Elri Voigt...
Pregnant women’s samples show exposure to 45 chemicals – US study
One of the largest investigations ever conducted into chemical exposure during pregnancy has found that expectant mothers regularly encounter dozens of chemicals found in...
'First of its kind' system to reduce Gauteng hospital waiting times
Gauteng Health has introduced a 'first' in South Africa system to reduce hospital waiting times and unblock surgical access, a situation which has reached...
How to kickstart stuck pharmacy ARV roll-out
Eight months after the Supreme Court of Appeal gave the green light for specially trained pharmacists to dispense antiretrovirals without a script from a...
Diabetics twice as likely to have hearing loss – Australian review
Researchers led by a team in Brisbane have suggested that adults with type 2 diabetes are more than twice as likely to develop clinically...
Ombud probe into six medics’ deaths finds no link to workplaces or bullying
A joint investigation into the deaths of six KwaZulu-Natal healthcare professionals has found no direct link with victimisation, workplace bullying or adverse working conditions,...
Children wait nearly three years for surgery at Charlotte Maxeke
Gauteng Health MEC Faith Mazibuko has called for a dedicated emergency paediatric theatre with dedicated anaesthetic and nursing support at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital. This...
SA prepares for Ebola outbreak as DRC health workers threaten strike
Government has designated 36 hospitals – 12 private and 24 public facilities – to manage any Ebola patients if the virus reaches South Africa,...
Nurses’ religious objections push SA teens to backstreet abortions
An 18-year-old from rural Limpopo said she had to resort to an illegal abortion from a traditional healer after a nurse at a public...
Donation of R1.1m boosts Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust
The Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust has received a significant donation of R1 105 000 from the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT), which will...
KZN doctor opens container clinic for her rural hometown
An enterprising and dedicated young doctor has provided a medical lifeline for her rural hometown community in KwaZulu-Natal, using her personal savings to open...
Enterprising Pretoria scientists turn citrus waste into health supplement
A team of young researchers at the University of Pretoria is developing an innovative health supplement that transforms citrus peel waste into a potentially powerful...
Gut health, metabolism, disrupted by sweeteners – US review
A recent study has suggested a link between calorie-free sweeteners and blood sugar control, with researchers saying their findings confirm others that warn about...
Public health threat as South Africa battles illegal weight loss drugs
Costly new generation weight loss drugs are unaffordable for most people, which has opened up a black market for cheaper, unregistered and untested versions...
More than 50 hospitals still headed by acting CEOs
The absence of permanent CEOs at state hospitals across South Africa is alarming, with Gauteng alone having 13 out of 37 facilities headed by...
Tobacco Bill lurches forward – with amendments possible
South Africa’s much stalled and controversial Bill that plans to enforce stringent regulations on tobacco use and the vaping industry is showing signs of...
Boys die after flu-like symptoms
A four-year-old boy from Verulam, outside Durban, died last week hours after being treated for a cough, said his mother, who is waiting for...
Egyptian doctor arrested after exposing obstetric violence
Egyptian human rights groups have condemned the arrest of a former doctor – later released on bail – after she had posted testimony on...
Lung issues for teens for up to two years after TB treatment – Peru study
A recent study in Peru, led by researchers from Brown University in the United States, has concluded that adolescent pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) survivors have...