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As the National Health Insurance Act stalls in court, Health Beat looks beyond policy to the people and partnerships keeping the country’s public health system going. From remote villages to a top university hospital, our team explores success stories built on world-class care, in the absence of world-class resources.

The implementation of the NHI is effectively frozen in court and constitutional clashes, blocking South Africa's most sweeping health overhaul since 1994. We talked to health economist Susan Cleary to find out whether the NHI is a wise way forward.

At 33, retired Constitutional Court justice Edwin Cameron thought he had, maybe, seven years left. His story traces the arc from certain death from Aids to a chronic, manageable condition at 73 — and asks what happens when the generation who fought for life finally get to grow old.

The tobacco industry is getting ready for the final showdown as South Africa’s Tobacco Bill heads into its last rounds, pulling out its well-worn talking points on illicit trade and high taxes. We talked to tobacco economics expert Corné van Walbeek to unravel fact from industry fiction.

A review of 37 studies found that when people stop taking weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, the weight comes back. Experts working in obesity aren’t surprised because, they say, just like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, the effects of the medicine disappear when you stop taking it. Researcher Nomathemba Chandiwana says it’s time to start treating it like one.

For the past three years, Buhle Sikade, 22, has been using an injection that gives her almost foolproof protection against getting HIV through sex — medicine that around 456 000 other HIV-negative people in South Africa will be able to get from 360 government clinics for free from April 1. Here’s what it’s done for her and how it works.

Today, exactly a year ago, on January 20, Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the United States (US) — and overnight, US policies on HIV funding for countries like South Africa changed. So where are we a year later? How are countries funding their HIV work now and how has international aid changed?

What’s driving anti-immigrant healthcare blockades? Sharon Ekambaram from Lawyers for Human Rights says it's everything from the sky-high cost of Zimbabwean passports and corruption to South Africa’s institutionalised xenophobia — and a growing global intolerance of migrants.

Twenty-five years ago, South Africans battled for ARVs to keep people alive. Now the focus has shifted to medicines that can prevent HIV altogether. Health Beat looks at Aids at 44 — and how the story has evolved.

This week, the High Court ruled that blocking foreigners from healthcare is unconstitutional. So why does the National Health Insurance Act say that’s what we should do when it comes to HIV services? Bhekisisa asked Sasha Stevenson, executive director of SECTION27, to explain what the law says about healthcare access for foreigners now, what the NHI Act would change and why it matters for public health.

Imagine watching loved ones swept away, land and livestock destroyed, possessions lost within hours. For many, that’s reality as climate disasters wreak havoc on lives and livelihoods. Health Beat investigates the mental toll of drought and floods, from Durban to Nairobi, and asks if smarter policy can help mend minds as well as communities.

Obesity is surging in South Africa. What’s fuelling this epidemic and how does it contribute to diabetes and heart disease, SA’s top killers?

In 2023, Bhekisisa and the DG Murray Trust teamed up to publish a piece arguing if food producers and sellers work together, they could make 10 stable foods, such as maize meal and eggs cheaper. Buy-in from the government could cut costs by another fifth. Here’s how David Harrison’s op-ed sparked high-level talks at treasury, the presidency and Nedlac.

South Africa’s HIV programme is the biggest in the world, but now it’s been cut thin, with the loss of billions in US funding. Health economists warn of a surge in new infections and deaths if South Africans forgo their treatment. Could an expensive HIV jab be the answer?

In the latest episode of Health Beat, we unpack the growing use of the psychedelic drug, ketamine, to treat severe depression and chronic pain. Research shows it can work quickly to improve mood, but experts are concerned about the rise of unregulated clinics using ketamine in ways that aren’t backed by solid evidence or properly supervised.

How does ADHD medicine work and what can — and can’t — it do? The medication is often abused by university students wanting to cram during exams. But, as psychiatrist Renata Schoeman tells Mia Malan, ADHD meds don’t work for people without the condition.