Author: Njih Favour
#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 19th February 2025 | Andy Gray In the first of a new series of monthly columns for Spotlight, Dr Andy Gray considers what we mean when we refer to medicines as “essential” – something that is routinely done by the WHO and health authorities in many countries. That every health system needs medicines, including vaccines, to treat and prevent and at times to cure…
09 Jan Temporary telephone system disruption Posted at 16:40h in News & Updates by Ntokozo Msiza The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) wishes to inform stakeholders that the organisation is currently experiencing a technical issue with its telephone system, which is affecting both outgoing and incoming calls. The Authority’s service provider is working diligently to resolve the issue as soon as possible. In the meantime, SAHPRA encourages you to reach out to us via email or other communication channels for any urgent inquiries. SAHPRA apologises for any inconvenience this may cause and will provide updates on the resolution…
It’s barely a month into the school year and several incidents of school bullying have already been reported across the country. Two weeks back, a 14-year-old boy in Cape Town shared how his schoolmates dipped his head into a dirty toilet and smeared human faeces on his face and uniform. In the same week, a mother shared on social media about her daughter’s bullying ordeal at a Centurion school in Gauteng. Just this week a widely circulating video shows pupils being beaten by others, in full view of their peers. Research shows that school bullying has a profound impact on…
The Networking HIV and AIDS Community of Southern Africa which relied on USAID money to fund one of their projects. (Supplied: NACOSA/Anotherlove Productions) News & Features 3rd March 2025 | Jesse Copelyn South Africa’s public health system is in turmoil after the widespread cancellation of USAID funding agreements. Among others, a USAID-funded project that helped to keep orphaned children on their HIV medication was forced to close. HIV testing services are also severely impacted in some areas. Critical USAID-funded health projects in South Africa have been forced to shut down, including some HIV testing and prevention services. This follows the…
Photo by Panumas Nikhomkhai via Pexels 15 Jan Telephone system has been restored Posted at 12:10h in News & Updates by Melanie Govindasamy The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) wishes to inform stakeholders that the organisation’s telephone system has been restored. SAHPRA apologises for any inconvenience this may have caused. Source link
The unprecedented postponement of the 2024/25 budget speech on Wednesday shocked South Africans, but it has left hope that the revised plan, due to be tabled on 12 March, will be more aligned with economic growth, and not so heavily focused on increasing taxes. The budget speech was postponed at the eleventh hour because the ANC’s partners in the Government of National Unity (GNU), are opposed to the proposed 2% increase in VAT, a move that would see a hike in the cost of food, transport, and daily essentials. Director and chief economist at Econometrix, Dr Azar Jammine says it…
Despite a waiver on life-saving humanitarian aid, USAID funding for crucial medical services remains frozen. Services remain closed as organisations await approval of revised budgets limited to what is allowed under the waiver. A separate US agency – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – restored funding to its beneficiary organisations, allowing them to reopen thanks to a US court judgment.Numerous South African health projects funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) remain closed. This is despite a federal court judgment which ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to lift the blanket freeze on global aid.…
17 Jan SAHPRA clarifies the benefits and risks of medroxyprogesterone acetate Pretoria, 17 January 2025 – The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has recommended that the product information of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA)-containing products be amended by updating the safety warnings to include the potential risk of meningioma. MPA is a synthetic oral and injectable form of the hormone progesterone and is used for contraception and the management of endometriosis-associated pain. It is also indicated in the palliative treatment of recurrent and/or metastatic endometrial cancer, renal cancer and breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The MPA-containing products registered in South…
South Africa is in a fiscal bind and this has the potential to be catastrophic for healthcare financing. The Minister of Finance has the unenviable task of managing expenditure, especially on big-ticket items such as the public sector wage bill, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of key services such as HIV and tuberculosis programmes. All of this happens in the context of widespread resistance to tax hikes and an increased demand for healthcare. Health-e News speaks with Sean Muller, an economist and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg and Russell Rensburg Director of the Rural Health Advocacy Project…
Professor Tulio de Oliveira. (Photo: Supplied) News & Features 24th February 2025 | Biénne Huisman Cuts to United States spending on aid and medical research have caused widespread havoc and anxiety in the last month. Professor Tulio de Oliveira sat down with Spotlight’s Biénne Huisman to talk through what it might mean for health research in South Africa. As the Trump administration moves to freeze foreign aid, halting vital humanitarian health programmes and medical research trials worldwide – leaving patients cut off from lifesaving medicines and scientists in a bind – Professor Tulio de Oliveira argues that the United States…