Spotlight
In-depth, public interest health journalism from South Africa. Reporting and analysis on TB, HIV, NCDs, health systems, and much more. www.SpotlightNSP.co.za
- OUT OF REACH | The blockbuster weight loss injections everyone is talking about will - for now - remain difficult to access for most of the people who need them: tinyurl.com/5dsv25e8 Join our mailing list: tinyurl.com/82jdsfjy
- GOOD NEWS | Farm workers often have difficulty accessing healthcare services, but a partnership between the Western Cape Department of Health and farms in the Cape Winelands aims to make this easier. Spotlight went to see one such initiative in action. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/02/06/t...
- GLP-1s | Despite South Africa's sky-rocketing sales of weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro, the jabs remain too expensive for most people to buy. In part one of this special series, Spotlight assesses when they will become more widely available. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/02/04/b...
- To improve care in the postnatal period, researchers in Gauteng have launched an ambitious implementation science project called Sihamba Kunye. Their key idea is that clinic visits for mother and baby can be much better integrated and optimised. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/19/i...
- Why is diabetes still a guessing game in SA? Unlike the country’s digital HIV & TB tracking system, there’s no centralised database for diabetes and other chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and cancer. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/12/04/p...
- ICYMI | The original Wits RHI clinic first opened its doors in the early 2000s to sex workers and was one of the first clinics to dispense HIV medicines in South Africa. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/28/n...
- ICYMI | Why are so many people in South Africa unaware and seemingly unconcerned about the extraordinarily high numbers of people infected with TB in our country? Could we take TB more seriously as a country? www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/01/13/i...
- NINE STORIES. ONE COMMITMENT | Spotlight’s health stories to watch in 2026, and the standard we promise to uphold: tinyurl.com/58yz4x49 Join our mailing list for clear, in-depth, and evidence-based reporting: tinyurl.com/82jdsfjy
- As an information pharmacist at UCT, Briony Chisholm witnessed rural health workers missing out on crucial training that could make a real difference in their daily work. Read our full article: www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/01/22/h...
- MUST READ | With several important developments on the horizon, 2026 is set to be another eventful year in healthcare. Here are nine stories that Spotlight will keep a close eye on. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/01/19/s...
- REMOVE BARRIERS | SECTION27 health activists map out the implications of a Gauteng High Court judgment delivered last year, explaining that it obliges the state to take active and coordinated steps to remove barriers hindering people’s access to healthcare. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/01/15/c...
- STEP UP | SA’s new oral health boards have an opportunity to govern boldly, transparently, and inclusively. Whether they seize it will determine not only the future of professional regulation, but the lived health realities of millions, argues Dr Bulela Vava. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/01/14/b...
- Nearly 30 000 people in Cape Town metro were diagnosed with TB in 2024. That is more than the total number of TB cases reported across the entire US, UK, France, and Canada combined. @tbproof.bsky.social www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/01/13/i...
- The South African government aims to increase HPV vaccination coverage to 90%, as part of global efforts spearheaded by the World Health Organization to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030. Read more: www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2024/06/19/h...
- Please let us know which health issues you would like to see Spotlight cover in 2026. Lenacapavir rollout. TB vaccines. GLP1RAs. NHI court cases. HCW shortages. What else?
- DO YOU KNOW THEM? | Every August we highlight women across healthcare, science, and medicine who are leading with distinction locally and internationally. See our list for 2025: shorturl.at/i3ICC Join our mailing list: shorturl.at/Ntzoa
- AGAINST THE ODDS | South Africa has an army of inspiring people making a difference. Read our newsletter from earlier this year showcasing some of these people and projects who are stepping up. Dive in: tinyurl.com/y5atb8z Join our mailing list: shorturl.at/Ntzoa
- STORIES WORTH SAVOURING | While our newsletter is on pause until next year, you can still read previous issues. One we think you might enjoy is this compilation of the year's special series. Dig in: tiny.cc/va1w001 Join our mailing list: tiny.cc/ra1w001
- HISTORY OF HIV | Have a look at our interactive timeline that highlights scientific milestones, political controversies, activism, and the human stories that shaped one of the most significant public health challenges of our time. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/25/a...
- HIV IN GRAPHS | Earlier this year Spotlight launched a dashboard and graph generator based on the data produced by the Thembisa model, one of the underappreciated gems in our HIV response. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/14/e... Access the dashboard here: www.spotlightnsp.co.za/hiv-dashboard/
- ICYMI | Research led by Professor Adrie Bekker in Cape Town is paving the way for an important HIV medicine to be made available to newborns in a safe and much more convenient way. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/04/30/c...
- SPOTLIGHT ON NHI | At our count, eight different court cases have been filed challenging the NHI Act, or parts of the Act. As we unpacked in this special series, we now have a good idea of the issues these court cases are likely to turn on. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/09/16/o...
- ICYMI | This year has been a whirlwind of developments in HIV prevention as well as major changes in the local and international health space. Spotlight editor @marcuslowx.bsky.social reflects on some of these noteworthy events. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/12/08/h...
- SPOTLIGHT ON OBESITY | In recent years, Spotlight has produced several in-depth articles on obesity, including an thought-provoking profile of a leading activist and researcher who is ready to fight back on the country's obesity epidemic. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/08/20/d...
- HEALTH IN 2025 | From US funding cuts and NHI court battles to HIV prevention, here’s a tour of this year’s health journey: tinyurl.com/4dd3c6dp Join our mailing list: tinyurl.com/82jdsfjy
- PROTECTING BABIES | A new respiratory syncytial virus vaccine to protect infants from severe illness is available in South Africa’s private sector. Earlier this year, an expert group recommended making it available to all pregnant women. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/07/15/g...
- FLASHBACK | Earlier this year, the Special Tribunal ordered four ambulance companies run by Thapelo Buthelezi to pay back over half-a-billion rand. The matter relates to contracts by the Free State government, which were first reported on in Spotlight. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/05/12/h...
- HAVE A LOOK | The National Health Laboratory Service released tallies per province of viral load tests, CD4 counts, TB tests, syphilis tests, and full blood counts. Spotlight and GroundUp obtained the data through the Promotion of Access to Information Act. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/27/r...
- THROWBACK | Several studies have flagged problems with our death registration processes. A critical first step to addressing it is to replace our paper-based process with an electronic one, argue the SAMRC's Dr Pam Groenewald and Professor Debbie Bradshaw. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/05/30/e...
- ICYMI | A landmark ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeal means specially trained pharmacists will soon be allowed to dispense antiretrovirals without a doctor’s script. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/10/27/p...
- ICYMI | South Africa is one of the few countries that buys blood glucose meters and test strips en masse, but there are still lots of people who are treated with insulin who don’t have access to them. Find out why: www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/12/04/p...
- At Spotlight, we monitor South Africa’s response to TB. Visit our website for our latest TB stories: spotlightnsp.co.za/tb-response/
- MUST READ| Spotlight editor @marcuslowx.bsky.social takes stock of some of the year's biggest health stories, including the cuts to US aid for health and support for research, important HIV prevention developments, and NHI court cases. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/12/08/h...
- STORIES WORTH SAVOURING | Alongside our standalone pieces, Spotlight also ran a number of special series – bringing you compelling, high-quality, and in-depth health journalism on topics that matter. Dig in here: tiny.cc/va1w001 Join our mailing list: tiny.cc/ra1w001
- MUST READ | Getting to grips with rising diabetes rates is arguably one of the most urgent tasks for South Africa’s public healthcare system, but the setbacks keep coming. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/12/04/p...
- There has been much confusion and misunderstandings about how cannabis and associated products are regulated in South Africa. Dr Andy Gray clearly sets out the current legal and regulatory situation and where we’re heading. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/12/03/i...
- TB NEWS | From studies of new medicines and a mask used to diagnose TB, there was no shortage of interesting findings presented at the recent Union World Conference on Lung Health. @elri-voigt.bsky.social rounds up six studies that stood out. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/12/02/s...
- #WorldAIDSDay2025 | This #InTheSpotlight special briefing unpacks HIV self-screening tests in South Africa. In short, government backs these tests at a policy-level, but hasn’t followed through with ambitious implementation. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/24/i...
- #WorldAIDSDay2025 | This interactive timeline traces key moments in the response to HIV - from virodene and African potatoes, to Nkosi Johnson and the START trial, we are confident you’ll be reminded of something you haven’t thought of in a while. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/25/a...
- #WorldAIDSDay2025 | Scientific breakthroughs in HIV, including those by SA’s many highly accomplished AIDS researchers, have had widespread global impact benefitting vulnerable groups from all walks of life, writes Professor Salim Abdool Karim. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/26/s...
- #WorldAIDSDay2025 | Spotlight has launched a new HIV dashboard and graph generator based on outputs from the Thembisa model. Our hope is that this dashboard will help the public and people working in healthcare to find important HIV numbers more easily: www.spotlightnsp.co.za/hiv-dashboard/
- SPOTLIGHT ON HIV | Ahead of World AIDS Day coming up on Monday, December 1st, Spotlight's focus this week was exclusively on HIV. Find out more: tinyurl.com/39evnys4 Join our mailing list: tinyurl.com/82jdsfjy
- US funding cuts shredded specialised services at a transgender clinic in the heart of Johannesburg. But a new collaborative initiative refuses to let this be the end of the journey for trans clients. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/28/n...
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- HAVE A LOOK | The National Health Laboratory Service has provided HIV, TB, syphilis and cholesterol data, which Spotlight and GroundUp obtained through the Promotion of Access to Information Act. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/27/r...
- OVERCOMING DISRUPTION | As World AIDS Day 2025 swings by, Professor Salim Abdool Karim reflects on the frantic days following the unprecedented US cuts to health aid and research funding, arguing that the deliberate disruptiveness was designed to be cruel. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/26/s...
- THE HISTORY OF HIV | Explore four decades of the HIV story, from the first cases to breakthroughs in prevention, science, and South Africa’s fight against the virus: www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/25/a...
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- IN THE SPOTLIGHT | We explain in this special briefing that self-screening tests are part of South Africa's HIV response on paper, but in reality, the tests are massively underutilised. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/24/i...
