Health

Rubbish piles up in Enkanini for nearly two weeks

Residents in the informal settlement in Khayelitsha have been forced to live with overflowing drains and rubbish

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News | 5 February 2016

Tygerberg Hospital without water for days

A burst pipe has left patients and staff without water since Wednesday

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News | 5 February 2016

Paarl shop bans breastfeeding

“No eating, drinking, smoking and breastfeeding in the shop please” - window sign

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News | 4 February 2016

Detainees go to court over conditions in Pollsmoor

65 people held in a cell meant for 25

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News | 3 February 2016

HIV-positive prisoner denied antiretroviral treatment

Pollsmoor detainees speak out

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News | 3 February 2016

Mbeki’s reputation is not in tatters because he was aloof

It's because his policies caused hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths

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Opinion | 1 February 2016

How a rural hospital has become a model of good care

If all hospitals were like this we could implement National Health Insurance tomorrow

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Opinion | 28 January 2016

NHI white paper: the good and the bad

South Africa is one of the most unequal nations in the world, and despite having the highest GDP on the continent, it boasts poor health indicators and faces a high burden of disease, both communicable like HIV and non-communicable like diabetes; high rates of violence and injury and mortality.

Kathryn Stinson and the Writing Group for the People’s Health Movement South Africa

Opinion | 18 December 2015

Patients turned away from Mfuleni clinic

Mfuleni community clinic turned away some patients on Friday as staff went to an end-of-the-year function.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 15 December 2015

Cough up money for TB, demand protesters

“Cough up money” for tuberculosis (TB) was the main demand of over a thousand people who marched from Keizersgracht Street to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) this afternoon. The CTICC is hosting the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, the planet's main annual TB meeting.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 3 December 2015

Khayelitsha kids have fun while learning how to stay healthy

Young children and teenagers packed Khayelitsha's Mew Way Hall to the brim today. They were entertained by the Zip Zap Circus and the Jazzart Dance Theatre. But besides having a day of fun, they also learnt about HIV and how to stay healthy, whether or not infected by the virus.

GroundUp Staff and Bernard ChiguvarePhotos by Masixole Feni

News | 1 December 2015

This school has 300 students and no running water

Mahlubini Junior Secondary School near Cofimvaba has close to 300 students, no electricity in the classrooms and no running water.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 1 December 2015

Money for TB research is shrinking while millions die

Tuberculosis (TB) killed 1.5 million people last year according to the World Health Organisation. Yet research money for TB is stagnating or even declining, according to a new report by the US based Treatment Action Group (TAG).

GroundUp staff

News | 30 November 2015

Hospital CEO under fire after baby’s body found

Residents of Xhorha in the Eastern Cape marched to Madwaleni hospital yesterday, demanding the departure of the CEO after a baby was found buried in the hospital grounds.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 18 November 2015

Insurance shock for parents of disabled Khayelitsha teenager

The parents of disabled Khayelitsha teenager Siphokazi Rululu took out an insurance policy in May last year to cover funeral expenses if they lost their daughter. When Siphokazi died last week, her mother Nomveliso Rululu was horrified to find that the insurance company would pay out R2,000 instead of the R12,000 they had been expecting.

Siyavuya Khaya

News | 17 November 2015

Government job freeze alarms health professionals

No vacant posts in Eastern Cape public hospitals and clinics are to be filled until December, according to a departmental circular. The Rural Health Advocacy Project fears that if such measures continue it could have “catastrophic consequences for health care”, especially in the rural areas.

Ashleigh Furlong

News | 9 November 2015