HomeSouth Africa
South Africa
HIV stigma still a major challenge, new report finds
Discrimination and stigma remain a major challenge for HIV+ people in South Africa, according to the 2024 HIV Stigma Index 2.0 report, which found...
Long Covid’s hidden toll on South Africans
Four years after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, South African doctors are still hearing patients complaining that they “feel better, but my mind...
How stargazing could transform mental health in South Africa
With South Africa’s increasing burden of mental health challenges, a transformative research project is unveiling novel ways in which local scientists hope the night...
Clinic staff extort money from migrants
Immigrants say clinic staff at several ciinics in Gauteng are now demanding money for them in exchange for ARVs, other chronic medications, and baby...
Highs and low in healthcare in 2025
The year’s biggest health story by far has been the cuts to US aid for health and US support for health research. But it’s...
Drinking habits in SA, Botswana, to be probed in long-term study
The University of Cape Town and the SA Medical Research Council have launched a five-year multidisciplinary project to address harmful alcohol use in South...
SA's critical care sector grossly under-resourced
With a shortage of subspecialists, specially trained nurses and ICU beds, critical care in South Africa falls far short in addressing the needs of...
Mothball poisoning a significant threat for children – SA study
Childhood poisoning is a significant health concern in South Africa – especially in densely populated informal housing settlements where children are frequently exposed to...
Testosterone helps restore South African women’s libido in midlife
Testosterone treatment is revolutionising the sexual health landscape for women by restoring libido post menopause, say experts, with interest in this rapidly increasing not...
SA regulators battle to stem tide of illicit weight loss jabs
The booming trade in black market weight loss drugs in South Africa is spiralling, with authorities seemingly unable to plug the sources or prevent...
WHO fast-track medical training plan unrealistic for SA – SAMA
A new competency-based curriculum promising to fast-track medical students into the workforce has been launched by the WHO Regional Office for Africa but red-flagged...
SA lines up plans to make its own six-monthly anti-HIV jab
The government says it could fill the potential gap in the number of doses of the HIV prevention jab Lenacapavir (LEN) needed to end...
Growing concern over drop in infant immunisations
The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness recently flagged a concerning decline in infant immunisation rates, and is intensifying its campaign to step...
Profit-driven heathcare threatens NHI
South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) aims to address healthcare inequities, but the rise of financialisation threatens its success. Treating health as an asset...
Lancet Labs fined for data breach
Numerous high-profile data breaches, leaks and other security incidents had been reported in South Africa in the past year, among them Lancet Laboratories, which...
Fewer HIV deaths but lifestyle disease risks worsen – Discovery
The effectiveness of sustained adherence to anti-retroviral treatment has led to a significant decline in mortality rates among people living with HIV, according to...
AMR in South Africa a 'silent pandemic'
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains one of the most critical global health threats, which could result in 169m people dying of AMR-related causes over the...
HIV drugs roll-out under threat in court tender row
The National Department of Health has come under legal fire from the SA subsidiary of Indian generic pharmaceutical manufacturer Hetero, which alleges that the...
Tygerberg team does pioneering limb reconstruction
A team of orthopaedic surgeons at Tygerberg Hospital has performed an innovative limb reconstruction procedure, which Stellenbosch University (SU) described as the first surgery...
SA’s cervical cancer crisis a wake-up call
Sixteen women die from cervical cancer every day in South Africa; a sobering reality which calls for authorities to take stock of its approach...
SA starts ground-breaking clinical trials for oral cholera vaccine
Clinical trials testing the efficacy of the first locally manufactured oral cholera vaccine, developed by Biovac, were officially launched on Tuesday, reports TimesLIVE – which...
Outrage as Gauteng Health still uses ‘blacklisted’ firms
Gauteng Health has admitted it lacks the power to blacklist suppliers linked to the R2bn Tembisa Hospital scandal, who continue to do business with...
Treasury's plan to feed the Eastern Cape’s starving children
The Treasury has proposed alternatives to fight hunger and reduce malnutrition statistics in the Eastern Cape after the Human Rights Commission (HRC), two years...
SA and Indonesia collaborate on asymptomatic TB study
Over the past decade, there’s been growing evidence that people can have TB without any symptoms. But there is still much uncertainty over how...
First obesity guideline for SA as experts flag growing burden
Obesity is reaching alarming proportions in South Africa, experts write, warning that apart from the potential health risks – heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes...
Watchdog deepens Bonitas investigation
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) is to launch a forensic investigation into allegedly improper procurement processes at Bonitas, zeroing in on a contract...
Doctor defends social media posts after HPCSA fine
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, who was fined R10 000 by the Health Professions Council of South Africa...
Aspen wins R500m payout in mRNA products dispute
South Africa’s biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer, Aspen, is expecting a R500m boost to its bank account within the next 30 days after its seven-month legal...
Sleep trackers could be disrupting your shut-eye – SA experts
The fitness watch that’s supposed to be monitoring your sleep could be the exact thing that’s keeping you up at night, say experts, who...
Poor sleep slashes years of life from HIV+ people – Wits study
Researchers say that bad sleep, frequently overlooked in routine HIV care, may well be the missing vital sign that determines how long and how...
Wits team creates inhalable nanosystem to fight TB
A team of researchers at the University of Witwatersrand is developing a system of TB medicine delivery at nano scale – engineering a microscopic...
SA first to register anti-HIV jab
South Africa is the first African country – and SAHPRA the third regulator worldwide – to register the twice-yearly anti-HIV jab, lenacapavir (LEN), inking...
TB caucus relaunched by Motsoaledi
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has relaunched the SA Tuberculosis Caucus, a platform for political leaders to advance the response to the disease, as the...
Ritshidze forced to shrink after US aid cuts
Ritshidze, the world’s largest community-led monitoring system, is in jeopardy after the cuts to US development aid announced in January, writes Chris Gilili for...
New pharmacy rival likely to chase Clicks, Dis-Chem
Ambitious plans to double its pharmaceutical retail stores next year are a step closer for the SPAR Group, after getting the nod from the...
Plunge in public healthcare services after Pepfar cuts
Nearly half of hundreds of public health facilities surveyed by the community-led monitoring group Ritshidze have been operating at a reduced capacity since the...
SA firms lose out on lenacapavir production
South African companies were excluded from Gilead Science’s voluntary licensing for the anti-HIV drug lenacapavir because those that were evaluated in 2024 did not...
UFS awarded WHO grant for global traditional medicine platform
A major grant has been awarded to the African Medicines Innovations and Technology Development Platform (AMITD) at the University of the Free State (UFS) under...
SAHPRA and HPCSA sign collaborative agreement
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)...
Sugary flavours in infant food harming health – Stellenbosch study
Researchers from Stellenbosch University have called for infant food flavourings to be evaluated and for labelling regulations to be strengthened and enforced after their...