News and analysis

Could a vaccine that protects you against one of the most painful diseases of older age also help keep your brain healthy? South Africa has finally launched Shingrix, a new shingles vaccine that studies suggest may lower the risk of dementia too. We unpack what the evidence really shows — and whether the hefty price tag is worth it.

Newborn deaths in South Africa are low but rising, and maternal deaths are high and not coming down fast enough. That’s what the data in the latest District Health Barometer, released at the end of April, show. We dive in to make sense of the numbers.

The judges deciding the NHI case are part of a 30-year tradition of using evidence, constitutional principles and careful reasoning to resolve some of South Africa’s toughest health disputes.

As anti-immigrant protests gather momentum, a clause in the NHI Act could deny many refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants HIV treatment — despite Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi saying that would "work in reverse" in the fight against HIV. Would the health minister be prepared to change that if the Constitutional Court rules the Act can go ahead?

US funding cuts gutted the NGOs that provided most of South Africa's transgender healthcare overnight. Last week, things became even cloudier with news reports that the US government plans to permanently phase out its multi-billion dollar HIV relief programme in South Africa by early 2027. Now, with hormones scarce and trusted clinics gone, an already vulnerable population is being pushed further from the HIV services they urgently need.

The roll-out of South Africa's six-monthly HIV prevention medication lenacapavir (LEN) has to consider our other epidemic: TB.

The electronic cigarette industry arrived in the country with lots of hype and no regulation more than a decade ago. Today, the vape industry is thriving, with no guardrails in place and a growing teenage addiction problem.

Over the course of three stories, we dived into thousands of data points to get a sense of what scientists’ models say South Africa’s future climate might look like. In our final piece today, we look at how different places compare when it comes to healthcare in the face of extreme weather.

The palliative care team at Groote Schuur Hospital fields questions about death and dying that the rest of the health system struggles to answer. Here’s why getting those answers right takes an entire network of people.

Is history repeating itself — just four years after the COVID-19 pandemic — with the United States demanding an Ebola quarantine camp for Americans in Kenya? In May, the Kenya High Court ordered the US centre to temporarily close down, warning it will expose the public — in a country without a single confirmed Ebola case from the current outbreak — to unacceptable risks.

Climate scientists agree that intense downpours and heavy storms will likely happen more often and become more unpredictable in the future. But can every extreme weather event be pinned on climate change? We look at what past data and future predictions say.

The six-monthly anti-HIV jab, which prevents HIV through sex, is now stocked for free at 360 government clinics in six of South Africa’s provinces. So how does the jab work, how do you know if you need it, and where can you find it? We’ve got you covered with answers to 13 questions.

With a R3.8-billion boost to help South Africa move away from fossil fuels like oil and coal for producing energy, how well is the country doing in keeping its promise to help the world’s temperature stay at manageable levels? Bhekisisa takes a look at the data.

In less than a month, South Africa will start rolling out the most potent HIV prevention medication the world has seen. But that alone doesn’t guarantee that HIV-negative people who need this twice-a-year injection — called lenacapavir — will use it. Katherine Gill, a scientist who has researched HIV prevention medication for over a decade, shares nine lessons that could help our LEN roll-out work.

South Africa has less than eight years before the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria phases out its grants entirely — and...

New research shows a steep decline in adolescent pregnancy rates across all nine provinces from 2021 to 2025, reversing course from previous years. It’s good news, even if it's not clear why it’s happening.