Author: Njih Favour

The U.S medicine regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has approved a drug that’s touted as the catalyst to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The long-acting injectable, Lenacapavir, has shown 100% effectiveness in preventing HIV infection from a single jab every six months.  But there are concerns that the price set by the manufacturer, Gilead, is far too expensive for low- and middle-income countries, which carry the highest HIV burden. While the pharmaceutical giant has not officially announced the cost, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima says it’s understood that “the intended market price is around…

Maria (we have withheld her surname) sits in her home and holds her granddaughter Teresa. (Photo: Jesse Copelyn/Spotlight/GroundUp) News & Features 19th June 2025 | Jesse Copelyn Part one: How the Trump Administration abandoned orphans with HIV In Mozambique, the health system is overwhelmingly built on US money. When the Trump administration instantly pulled much of this funding without warning, disease and death spread. Spotlight and GroundUp visited one of the worst affected regions to describe the human toll. Hospitals run short of life-saving drugs. Doctors and nurses are laid off en masse. Hospital lines get longer and longer. Some…

19 Jun Executive Forecast 2025: In Conversation with Dr. Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela Posted at 10:01h in News & Updates by Ntokozo Msiza Pretoria, 18 June 2025 Meeting highlights: Crisis-Driven Resilience and Standards: SAHPRA maintained strict scientific standards and operational integrity during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on responsiveness without compromising safety or quality, while also strengthening collaboration with national and international stakeholders.  Support for Local Manufacturing and Strategic Vision: A major 2025 priority is to release a draft policy that supports local manufacturers and transitions from reactive crisis management to long-term strategic planning, including preparation for AI and advanced therapies.  The Impact of U.S.…

On a Wednesday afternoon in Botshabelo’s H section in the Free State, Teboho Montwedi* takes a long drag of his cigarette as he watches learners from a nearby school milling about.  Montwedi hasn’t been in school for six years. The 24-year-old dropped out of high school in 2019 when he was in Grade 10.  “My aunt was hard on me about it and my life became difficult. I hated maths, I hated Afrikaans, I hated my class teacher.”  According to Statistics South Africa, only 52,1% of adults older than 20 have completed matric, around 5% of men who didn’t finish…

#InsideTheBox is a column by Dr Andy Gray, a pharmaceutical sciences expert at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Pharmaceutical Policy and Evidence Based Practice. (Photo: Supplied) Comment & Analysis 18th June 2025 | Andy Gray It is easy to claim one is “following the scientific evidence”, but what does it mean to actually do so? In his latest #InsideTheBox column, Dr Andy Gray considers how evidence-based health policy and guidelines can and should be made. The recent firing of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory body on immunisation policy, allegedly…

In honour of Youth Month Health-e News asked community journalists to tell us about the biggest issues facing young people in their community. This submission is by Tholakele Mbonani from Ekurhuleni. Once upon a street in Duduza, laughter echoed. Children played with bare feet and wild hearts. The sun-kissed tin roofs and dreams were stitched into the sky with kites made from old plastics and rods. Hope lived here not perfectly, but proudly. But that was before the dust turned dark. Now, if you walk these same streets, you will not see those children. You will see ghosts, boys with…

As winter sets in and temperatures continue to drop across Gauteng, patients at several public hospitals have raised concerns about freezing wards and a lack of hot water.  According to the Gauteng Department of Health, this is due to the ageing infrastructure in its health facilities. Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko says in a statement contractors are on standby to respond to emergencies. “In May, several facilities experienced the visible effects of ageing infrastructure, when breakdowns in the boiler systems resulted in inconsistent hot water supply. The reality we are facing is that critical equipment such as boilers, chillers, heat…

As South Africa moves closer to implementing the National Health Insurance (NHI), Sections 42 to 44 of the NHI Act, which designates a centralised investigative unit within the NHI Fund as the sole authority for managing all complaints, has become a major point of contention in the recent court challenges against the Act.  Health professionals and advocacy groups argue that this centralised approach could undermine transparency, compromise the independence of investigations, and erode public trust in the system. Subscribe to our newsletter Currently, patients can submit complaints, either verbally or in writing, directly at the health facility.  Professor Hassan Mahomed,…

Three years after the World Health Organization (WHO) launched Africa’s first mRNA vaccine technology transfer programme, the effort is beginning to pay off. The project was born during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most vaccines were snapped up by wealthy countries, leaving low and middle-income nations scrambling for access. Established by the WHO and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) in 2021, the programme is on its way to transforming the vaccine and therapeutic landscape in Africa.  Through the hub at the Cape Town-based biotechnology company, Afrigen Biologics, it has successfully transferred foundational mRNA technology to 15 partner organisations. African countries currently…

13 Jun The Impact of Pharmacovigilance on Public Safety: A SAHPRA Mandate Posted at 14:59h in News & Updates by Melanie Govindasamy A Thought Leadership Article Introduction Pharmacovigilance is the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of adverse effects or any other medicine-related problems, which play a crucial role in ensuring public safety. The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) is at the forefront of pharmacovigilance efforts in South Africa, working tirelessly to safeguard public health. SAHPRA’s Mandate and Role in Pharmacovigilance SAHPRA’s mandate is to regulate all health products, including medicines, medical devices,…