Author: Njih Favour

As rates of obesity continue to rise globally, a Lancet report seeks to expand how we view it. (Photo: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels) News & Features 19th May 2025 | Jesse Copelyn Authors of a recent Lancet report argue that obesity should not just be seen as a risk factor for other diseases – but in some cases, should be seen as a disease itself. The position could change how we treat obesity globally. In the first of this two-part Spotlight series, we break down the debate around the issue, and its implications for health policy.     In 1990, just 2% of all…

by Tian Johnson, Strategist at the African Alliance. There is a line that should never be crossed, even in the heat of political pressure and public scrutiny. This week, South Africa’s Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, did just that.  During a press conference, Motsoaledi likened civil society activists (many many of whom are queer, Black, working class, and on the frontlines of South Africa’s HIV response) to AfriForum — because they criticised his response to PEPFAR’s retreat from the country.  Let’s be absolutely clear: AfriForum presents itself as a civil rights group, but has been widely described by legal experts,…

South Africa has not been able to raise any additional funds to plug the gap in the country’s HIV programme following the withdrawal of PEPFAR funding in January.  Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsaoledi says the department has met with various donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, to cover the R7.9 billion rand shortfall. “None of the donors we’ve been speaking to have made any commitments, apart from the Global Fund that has committed R1bn for ARVs,” says Motsoaledi. South Africa was a major…

South Africans have until 6 June to submit comments on the proposed regulations for the governance of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Fund.  As per the NHI Act which was signed into law in May of 2024, the NHI Fund is the vehicle through which universal health coverage is to be achieved in the country. Among the functions of the Fund is to purchase health services on behalf of NHI users, set the rates for these services and ensure that service providers have the necessary registration or accreditation.      The draft regulations on the NHI Fund’s governance sets out the structures…

Despite an incredible reduction in the number of babies who acquire HIV from their mothers, many are still getting infected in this way. (Photo: Ryan Graybill/Unsplash) News & Features 14th May 2025 | Elna Schütz Over the last two decades, South Africa made massive progress in reducing transmission of HIV from mothers to their babies. Even so, about 7 000 babies still contract the virus every year. Experts put this down to having the right puzzle pieces for prevention but failing to integrate them optimally. Around 7 000 infants in South Africa still contract HIV from their mothers every year…

South Africa faces a high burden of mental health disorders driven by a range of factors, including childhood trauma, poverty, unemployment, the ongoing impact of HIV, and a history of political and social violence. Research shows that 30.3% of South Africans experience a mental disorder in their lifetime, yet most of them won’t get the care they need.  “There’s clear epidemiological evidence that 16% of South Africans experience a mental health condition in any given year. But more than 90% of people living with mental health conditions don’t receive the care that they need, despite clear evidence of cost-effective interventions,”…

File photo: Buthelezi EMS’ smallholding in the south of Johannesburg where ambulances were stored, as well as several other pieces of machinery, a horse, broken vehicles and outbuildings. (Photo: Spotlight) News & Features 12th May 2025 | Marcus Low and Tamsin Metelerkamp The Special Tribunal has ruled that companies owned by Thapelo Buthelezi must repay more than R532 million, linked to improperly awarded contracts first exposed by Spotlight. Buthelezi intends to appeal the tribunal’s decision.  The Special Tribunal has ordered four ambulance companies run by Thapelo Buthelezi to pay back a total of over half-a-billion rand. The matter relates to…

This project is funded by: Residents of Kliptown in Soweto say they’ve been forced to live under inhumane conditions and in an unhealthy environment. For more than 20 years they’ve been using plastic, chemical non-flush toilets. Some community members claim that they’ve fallen ill as a result.  Chemical non-flush toilets rely on a combination of chemicals to break down waste and control odour, including formaldehyde.  Professor Martin Onani, head of the chemistry department at the University of the Western Cape warns of the potential health hazards associated with plastic chemical non-flush toilets.  “Direct or indirect exposure to toilet chemicals could…

At the end of March, 17-year-old Bongani Nthangase from Chatsworth, Durban, died after being robbed and stabbed outside a popular restaurant on Durban’s North Beach. His passing and response from police, raised many questions on social media, about why police could not allow bystanders to assist in transporting him to the hospital, which was just 2km away. Nthangase who was at the beach, was approached by two young men, demanding his cell phone and other valuables. He didn’t have any valuables to hand over, but the robbers stabbed him and fled the scene.  The teenager was left in the beachfront…

#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 12th May 2025 | Andy Gray Clinical trial participants appear to be well protected in South Africa, particularly as the country’s guidelines recognise the risks of research with international collaborators. The sudden end of US-funded clinical trials, however, is exposing some limitations of ethics codes and guidelines, argues Dr Andy Gray. Participation in a clinical trial that involves the use of an investigational product,…