Author: Njih Favour

08 Sep Temporary Closure of SAHPRA Pretoria Office Posted at 09:43h in News & Updates by Ntokozo Msiza Dear Stakeholders, Please be informed that the SAHPRA Pretoria office is temporarily closed until further notice. For any enquiries, we kindly request that you email or call the relevant unit directly. Our teams remain available to assist you remotely during this period. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding. RegardsSAHPRA Source link

Sylvia Nodela and her son Joshua at the Gugulethu Community Health Clinic. (Photo: Biénne Huisman/Spotlight) News & Features 8th September 2025 | Biénne Huisman Joshua was safely delivered from Sylvia’s belly instead of her uterus one year ago. Biénne Huisman meets mother and baby, and hears from some of the healthcare professionals involved in the remarkable outcome. Sylvia Nodela’s eyes fill with tears as her son bounces in her arms, happily chirping. It’s a grey winter morning as we gather at a maternity clinic in Gugulethu. Exactly one year prior to our interview, Joshua’s birth defied formidable survival odds for…

Nthuthuko Mchunu was admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Durban. (Photo: Freepik) Nthuthuko Mchunu was admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Durban. (Photo: Freepik) Imagine taking your child to the hospital only to be told, days later, that they are missing.  Nthuthuko hasn’t been seen since 2018. (Photo: Supplied) This is what happened to Deliwe Mchunu from Ntuzuma in KwaZulu-Natal. In June of 2018, her son, Nthuthuko Mchunu started showing symptoms of “depression and anxiety”. Concerned, she took him to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Durban, where he was admitted.  But days following his admission Deliwe received a…

This project is funded by: A 66-year-old man from Stinkwater, a village north of Pretoria has been missing since March 2025. Amos Modikwe Shiang was living with dementia when he disappeared, and his family are losing hope in finding him.  “My uncle just went out and we thought he was at the neighbours, only to find out he went astray to an unknown place. We tried to call the (local) residents for help but it was too little, too late,” says his nephew, Lucas Shiang.  A missing person’s report was filed with the police, but six months later, there’s no…

A child-friendly version of the antiretroviral drug dolutegravir was registered in South Africa in 2022. (Photo: Tina Floersch/Unsplash) News & Features 4th September 2025 | Elri Voigt A child-friendly formulation of the antiretroviral drug dolutegravir was first included in the country’s HIV treatment guidelines in 2023. New estimates suggest that most children aged one to four living with HIV have now been switched to the drug. The potent antiretroviral (ARV) drug dolutegravir has become the backbone of South Africa’s HIV treatment programme. The drug was first included in South Africa’s ARV tender in 2019 and was rolled out in phases…

Vaccines have been hailed as one of the greatest public health interventions in history. It’s estimated that child deaths dropped by more than 50% since the introduction of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation 50 years ago. Parents are encouraged to vaccinate their children to ensure their safety. But in recent years, there’s been a decrease in childhood immunisation rates. This is particularly concerning because gaps in immunisation can lead to the outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases like the measles outbreak that the country is currently facing. It’s crucial for parents to vaccinate their children to prevent such outbreaks.  Measles is a…

In the rural town of Ngcobo in the former Transkei in the Eastern Cape, an athlete turned philanthropist is working to alleviate the plight of young rural girls – one sanitary pad at a time.  Marathon runner, Vuko “Vince” Loqo, says he was touched by the many stories of girls in far-flung, deep rural areas who are often forced to miss school when they are menstruating. Through his foundation, Ithemba Support Foundation, he’s embarked on initiatives to fundraise for sanitary pads for needy rural girls. “Whenever I run a marathon, I ask for sanitary pad donations from businesses and organisations,”…

Experts are excited about two new jabs that can provide several months of protection against HIV infection per shot. (Pixabay rework by Spotlight) News & Features 2nd September 2025 | Catherine Tomlinson The health department has plans to roll out lenacapavir, a twice-yearly HIV prevention injection, in a select group of public sector clinics by April 2026. Meanwhile, little progress has been made towards rolling out a two-monthly prevention injection, despite the four-year head start this product had on lenacapavir. Injections that provide months of protection at a time against HIV infection have been hailed by several leading experts as…

Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital is KwaZulu-Natal’s only public hospital with a functioning cardiac unit. (File photo: Hush Naidoo/Unsplash) News & Features 1st September 2025 | Chris Bateman Doctors have blown the whistle about a crisis at one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most important public hospitals, saying it is functioning far under capacity due to a series of crippling cuts. The Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban’s Cato Manor is operating at around 40% below surgical capacity, according to senior doctors there. As one of a small number of central hospitals in South Africa, it provides specialist services unavailable elsewhere in…

Earlier this month, the court in Gauteng once again ruled that the provincial health department needs to urgently clear the backlog of cancer patients waiting for treatment. (Photo: Gauteng Provincial Government) News & Features 28th August 2025 | Ufrieda Ho In the latest chapter of a long-running legal battle over the Gauteng Department of Health’s obligation to provide people in the province with radiation oncology services, the department has suffered another loss in the courts. Spotlight assesses the legal situation and asks what it means for people still waiting for the life-saving treatment. With another court loss suffered this August,…