Author: Njih Favour

This project is funded by: Months after a measles outbreak was declared in South Africa, some parents remain resistant to getting their children vaccinated.  According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, more than 480 of the 700 cases in the country have been diagnosed in Gauteng.  Children need two doses of the measles vaccine – at 6 months and 12 months – for full protection. But uptake is low.  “Immunisation coverage for the second dose of the measles vaccine remains below 75% in both Johannesburg and Tshwane, which are considered below the level required to prevent outbreaks,” the Gauteng…

#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 25th August 2025 | Andy Gray Rather than trying to do everything from scratch, medicines regulators from different countries are increasingly sharing the load between them by ‘relying’ on each other’s work. In his latest #InsideTheBox column, Dr Andy Gray explains how such ‘reliance mechanisms’ can help regulators make decisions more quickly and efficiently, and digs into the details of how South Africa can…

South Africa is among the first countries in line to receive doses of lenacapavir, the six-monthly injection for HIV prevention. According to national health department projections, the country could start rolling out lenacapavir in 2026.     “This is just the projected timeline. If we do have lenacapavir coming in and we have all the support, we hope that we could start by March to April 2026 – depending on regulatory approval and depending on availability of resources,” says Hasina Subedar, senior technical advisor for HIV Prevention in the National Department of Health.    Studies done in various countries, including South Africa, have…

Primrose Modisane finally has her ID number but it came at a high price. Her mother Phumulani Tshuma died of incurable throat cancer in 2023, just four months after she got her ID card, which Modisane is pictured holding. (Photo: Madelene Cronjé/LHR) News & Features 22nd August 2025 | Joan van Dyk When South Africans get caught up in the country’s often dysfunctional home affairs system, sometimes even DNA evidence isn’t enough to prove their citizenship. This can, among others, have consequences for people’s ability to access healthcare services. For foreign nationals, navigating the system can be even harder. On…

Tuberculosis (TB) remains South Africa’s deadliest infectious disease, claiming 56,000 lives in 2023, despite new cases declining sharply in recent years. “Over the years, we’ve been struggling with this. We still see a lot of patients continue to die from tuberculosis,” says Norbert Ndjeka, Chief Director: TB Control and Management in the National Department of Health. He was speaking at the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHCS) conference in Cape Town this week.  South Africa is among the 30 countries that have the highest TB burden in the world. In 2023, around 270 000 people had the disease. More than…

Research for impact has guided Dr Nomathemba Chandiwana’s career in public health research. (Photo: Supplied) News & Features 20th August 2025 | Ufrieda Ho The obesity epidemic will hit South Africa hard on top of our high HIV burden, but advocate researcher and scientist Dr Nomathemba Chandiwana says she is ready to fight back harder. She speaks to Ufrieda Ho about her journey from working in state hospitals to transitioning into obesity medicine, and her move to Cape Town. For the briefest moment, Dr Nomathemba Chandiwana could have had a career in music – guitar in her arms, singing songs…

This project is funded by: Zodwa Ngubo*from Embo, west of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal’s Ugu district is currently seven months pregnant. The 33-year-old drinks a herbal tonic, isihlambezo, daily as she believes it will help her avoid a caesarean-section delivery and any complications during childbirth.  She sought the mixture from a local woman, “Gogo Mdlalose”*, who isn’t a traditional healer, but is known for mixing isihlambezo in her community. When asked to disclose the ingredients used, Mdlalose declined, saying it’s a “family legacy”.  This isn’t Ngubo’s first time using isihlambezo prepared by Mdlalose. “She is well-regarded in our community. I’ve never…

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in South Africa, despite the disease being largely preventable through vaccination and regular screening. Each year, around 10 700 women in South Africa are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and about 5 870 lose their lives to the disease. It is mainly caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Almost everyone who’s sexually active will be exposed to HPV at some point, often without even knowing it. Most strains are harmless and disappear on their own, but a few high-risk types can cause genital warts or develop into cancers of the…

Phola, a community situated near Eskom’s Kendal power station, has long been exposed to the health risks associated with coal pollution. (Photo: Thom Pierce/Spotlight) News & Features 18th August 2025 | Sue Segar Despite a landmark court judgment three years ago that upheld the right to clean air, air pollution remains rife in South Africa’s coal country. For part 2 of this Spotlight special series, journalist Sue Segar and photographer Thom Pierce travelled to meet some of the activists on the ground in Mpumalanga. About a decade ago, whilst playing football with his friends in the community of Phola in…

When Simamkele Selem was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism in January 2024, at the age of 21, she knew nothing about the condition.  What followed was something that she never expected. She needed assistance with daily tasks because of muscle weakness caused by long-term hospitalisation and oxygen use. There were multiple follow-up appointments with cardiologists, a series of tests, a heart attack, surgery and physiotherapy for recovery. Selem was also exhausted from having to travel from East London to Cape Town for treatment.  Today, Selem is raising awareness about the life-threatening condition.  “Coming from a small town called Alice in the…