Author: Njih Favour

by Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Directors, Ms. Anne Githuku-Shongwe, UNAIDS and Ms. Lydia Zigomo, UNFPA, and Acting Regional Director, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, WHO Africa Region  Princess Chitsuro has transformed her life. Born with HIV, she only learned her status as a young adult. Overcome with shock and fear, she initially distanced herself from everyone – friends, community, even her own future.  But denial only lasts so long. When she became pregnant, Princess was unaware that she could prevent transmitting HIV to her unborn child. She learned that she could, after joining a mentorship programme for young mothers. There, she…

US President Donald Trump’s administration has cut life-saving aid to many African countries. (Photo: White House/Shealah Craighead) News & Features 10th April 2025 | Jesse Copelyn Top local researchers estimate that the cancellation of funding from a multi-billion dollar US initiative that supports HIV-related services globally could lead to a significant increase in HIV infections and deaths in South Africa. The cancellation of US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding to South Africa could cause between 150 000 and 295 000 additional HIV infections by the end of 2028. This is unless the South African government covers some…

Rape is the most common crime committed against children in the country, yet few will see justice.  According to Statistics South Africa’s reports on crimes against children, rape accounted for 38.3% of all crimes against children in the 2022/2023 financial year. Only a fraction of cases were enrolled for trial by the National Prosecuting Authority.  The seven-year-old Grade 1 pupil was allegedly raped and drugged in one of the classrooms at her school, Bergview College in Matatiele, Eastern Cape in October last year. The matter was brought to the public’s attention in early April when the mother shared her daughter’s…

This project is funded by: An Eastern Cape woman and her family are demanding answers from the health department after an unfortunate series of events that took place more than a year ago left her with life-altering injuries from an operation. Nomveliso Nqeketho wants to live a normal life again. (Photo: Supplied) In 2023, 42-year-old Nomveliso Nqeketho from Mqwangqweni in Ngqeleni was pregnant with her second child and attended regular antenatal appointments at her local clinic. However, in December, in her final month of pregnancy, her feet and face started swelling, and she decided to visit Canzibe Hospital, the closest…

Zodwa Thomas-Daweti, Barbara Williams, and Michelle Bergh outside the Khayelitsha branch of Rape Crisis. (Photo: Sue Segar/Spotlight) News & Features 9th April 2025 | Sue Segar *This story contains depictions of sexual violence. Rape Crisis pioneered the first containment counselling service at Cape Town’s inaugural Thuthuzela Care Centre, a model now adopted nationwide. Spotlight visited staff at the soon to be 50-year-old organisation’s three offices and spoke with a rape survivor who has since become a volunteer at their Khayelitsha branch. When Zanele* was eight years old, she says she was raped by her “cousin-brother” whilst playing hide and seek…

This project is funded by: Patients using Commercial City Clinic in Durban Central say they are routinely expected to buy their own pregnancy tests and notebooks for medical records. Phumelele Mnguni, a patient at the clinic, says if patients miss their date for the injectable contraceptive, they’re expected to buy their own pregnancy tests. The contraceptive shots are given every three months. When women get the jab, they are given a date for the next shot – missing this date increases the risk of pregnancy.  The test is taken to confirm that women are not pregnant before they receive the…

The Gauteng health department has spent R600 million on constructing a forensic pathology building that would be the largest of its kind in the province. The construction of the Johannesburg Forensic Pathology building, adjacent to the Helen Joseph Hospital, started on 3 November 2016 and was supposed to be completed in 2019. But the building was ditched, mid-construction, in  2017 because the contractors weren’t paid.  According to the provincial health department’s presentation to the Health Portfolio Committee in February, completion was planned for the beginning of March, but that has not happened. Instead, another R235 million is needed to complete…

Recent data indicates that casual interactions in social places contribute significantly to the spread of TB. (Photo: Tumisu/Pixabay) News & Features 7th April 2025 | Biénne Huisman For centuries, it was believed that tuberculosis spread primarily when a vulnerable person spends hours in a poorly ventilated space with someone infectious. But new findings suggest that much TB transmission also occurs through casual contact. Conventional thinking held that enclosed spaces such as households, prisons, and shelters, where people spent long periods of time together, were where most TB transmission took place. But new data suggest that casual contact at social settings…

04 Apr SAHPRA joins the Medical Device Single Audit Programme Pretoria, 04 April 2025 –The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has joined the Medical Device Single Audit Programme (MDSAP), an international audit programme of medicines and medical device regulators aimed at improving efficiencies in the regulation of medical device manufacturers by engaging in work sharing and collaboration. SAHPRA joins MDSAP as an affiliate member, which expands its ability to monitor the manufacturing of medical devices beyond South Africa’s borders. The MDSAP membership will result in the improved regulation of medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics (IVDs) as it increases SAHPRA regulatory…

It’s been two and half months since Donald Trump signed executive orders freezing US foreign aid. What was initially a 90-day pause has morphed into abrupt and widespread shutdowns of HIV, and sexual and reproductive health services around the world.   Key USAID-funded HIV research and development programmes (R&D) have not been spared. These include promising clinical trials, most of which have South African researchers and scientists at the helm. Experts warn that halting these life-saving HIV research programmes will erode trust between communities and scientists, setting back R&D by decades. The MATRIX project, BRILLIANT Consortium, ADVANCE, MOSAIC and CASPR are…