South Africa

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Governance
Patients wait in the emergency room of Klerksdorp Tshepong public district hospital.

South Africa's Medical Negligence Crisis

by Thabo Molelekwa

Understaffing and insufficient resources have led to poor quality care and a surge of medicolegal claims in South Africa

Governance
A patient waits in the emergency room of Klerksdorp Tshepong public district hospital

South Africa's Health-Care Reform in Limbo Following Election

by Linda Nordling

African National Congress's loss imperils the new National Health Insurance law and its financing of public health care

A local health official and a nurse consult documents containing information about monkeypox after taking samples from patients
Governance

What South Africa's Fatal Mpox Cases Mean for the Global Crisis

by Linda Nordling

A nurse holds a monkeypox vaccination at the Northwell Health Immediate Care Center at Fire Island-Cherry Grove.

A health worker looks on as she waits to give a dose of a COVID vaccine.
Poverty

The Threat of Bogus Doctors in Africa

by Charles Pensulo

Social media is propelling the popularity and reach of medical frauds in South Africa and Malawi

Former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela—wearing a white t-shirt with HIV POSITIVE in purple printed on the front—visits the township of Khayelitsha in Western Cape, South Africa. Photo by Media24/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Governance

In South Africa, Much More Than an Investment in HIV

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, UNAIDS special ambassador for adolescents and HIV, on "building one house" for health

A health worker prepares to administer COVID-19 vaccines at Ndirande Health Centre in Blantyre, Malawi.
Trade

A "Radical Plan" to Produce Vaccines Locally

Science reporter Amy Maxmen discusses "the hub" and the making of her new podcast for Big Picture Science

Activists and supporters of the Right 2 Know campaign chant slogans as they hold a night vigil outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg September 19, 2011.
Governance

South Africa's Health-Care Whistleblowers Are Under Threat

by Ray Mwareya

Employees who flag nefarious efforts to fleece public health coffers put their jobs, families, and lives at risk

Three South African children sit in a dark room look on as they use a parafin light to study during an electricity load-shedding blackout in Soweto, South Africa, on March 18, 2021.
Governance

Power Cuts in South Africa Wreak Havoc on Health Care

by Nadine Nanji

New and alternative energy solutions are needed to keep pace with hospitals' needs

A brilliant orange-red sunset shimmers over the water and trees of tthe Okavango Delta, Botswana, on April 25, 2018.
Governance

Omicron and the Scramble from Africa

by Mareli Claassens

"Travel bans are based on political agendas, not science, and certainly not on respect," says a physician from Namibia

Cristian Molina, 26, takes his tuberculosis medication at his house in the shantytown of Lujan in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 26, 2019. Molina is prescribed to take 11 tablets per day, seven in the morning and four in the afternoon, which often give him a stomachache.
Poverty

The Fight Against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

by Caroline Kantis

A photo series depicting people living with TB

A public health information sign is seen with St. Paul's Cathedral seen behind amidst a lockdown during the spread of the coronavirus disease pandemic, London, Britain, January 7, 2021.
Migration

Spread of COVID-19 Variants Adds to Urgency of Disease Control Efforts

by Jennifer B. Nuzzo, Gigi Gronvall

Increasing evidence suggests new COVID-19 variants are more transmissible between people

Goodman Makanda, who's involved in efforts to make tuberculosis and COVID-19 testing more acceptable and accessible for South African men, in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa, on March 24th 2019. The photo shows a man sitting in a clinic with various monitors and equipment. An eye exam is visible on the wall. MSF/Jelle Krings
Gender

Afraid to Die, Afraid to Go to the Clinic

by Ruvandhi Nathavitharana, Isabel Foster

Amplifying tuberculosis survivor perspectives to encourage men to seek care for COVID-19 in South Africa and elsewhere

"We cannot afford to unsee domestic abuse after COVID-19," the authors write. Here women wearing masks take part in a protest against gender violence in Santiago, Chile, on December 6, 2019. The photo is a striking image of women wearing red masks lined up, each person holding a hand over one eye of the person in front of them. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares
Gender

Violence in Times of Coronavirus—The Ugly Truth

by Amber Peterman, Megan O’Donnell, Karen Devries, Alessandra Guedes

We cannot afford to unsee domestic abuse after COVID-19—we need a world free from violence against women and children

Image shows a map of the world color coded according to percent of government spending on health in 2017.
Governance

Which Governments Prioritize Health Spending?

by Joseph L. Dieleman, Hayley Stutzman, Angela E. Micah

As COVID-19 causes simultaneous health and economic crises worldwide, it's an opportunity to evaluate health spending