Dangerous delays may happen at three points: the patient deciding to seek care, reaching a healthcare facility, or receiving quality care at that facility.
A victim of the Aids pandemic is buried in Cape Town in 2004.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA
There are multiple health risks in living close to waste sites, with substantial racial and income differences playing a major role.
The Thusong Multipurpose Center in Khayelitsha which will serve as a COVID-19 site in Cape Town, South Africa.
Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Involving senior health science students in the everyday practice helped address the workload in facilities, improved quality of patient care, and increased patient and staff satisfaction.
A general view during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential COVID-19 vaccine in Soweto, South Africa.
Felix Dlangamandla/Beeld/Gallo Images via Getty Images
There isn’t enough clinical research being done in Africa. This has had a lot of repercussions in terms of the timing when interventions become available and effective in high income countries.
People exercising in Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Dino Lloyd/Gallo Images via Getty Images
South Africa faces high levels of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. The NHI is likely to battle to cope with treating large numbers of sick people.
Nelson Mandela’s long walk to freedom.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA
South Africa’s history shows that mobilising white privilege can be a useful tool for advancing the struggle against racism.
A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against COVID-19 in Soweto, South Africa.
Felix Dlangamandla/Beeld/Gallo Images via Getty Images
The healthcare sector should focus on employee engagement and fostering meaningful relationships between staff. Leaders must show empathy and help staff deal with the trauma they may be experiencing.
More financial services should target low-income households in South Africa.
A researcher holds a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at the National Primate Research Center of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.
Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
History shows that treatments and vaccines have been accessible to African countries only after the loss of millions of lives and typically years - sometimes decades - after developed nations.
The French mobile phone application StopCovid, developed to trace people who test positive with COVID-19.
Chesnot/Getty Images
In a country marred by systematic discrimination and continued social marginalisation, particular consideration needs to be given to the measures being used to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Members of South Africa’s Zip Zap Circus.
Washington Post/Getty Images
An ongoing study shows that storytelling can positively increase self-awareness in young people, especially if they can relate to the stories. But in Africa access to story platforms is limited.
What South Africa’s West Coast might have looked like 5 million years ago. In the foreground, a giant wolverine feeds on a pig while chasing away a primitive hyena.
Maggie Newman, Geological Society of South Africa and the University of the Witwatersrand
These findings are in stark contrast with the original worldview that suggested the entire globe was at a maximum glaciated state around 20 000 years ago.
In this week’s round-up of coronavirus articles by scholars around the globe, we explore the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 and the latest on drug trials.
Grootvlei, Snake Park, an impoverished suburb on the fringe of one of the biggest mine dumps in Soweto, Johannesburg. Poor people have been hit hardest by the fallout of COVID-19.
Mujahid Safodien/AFP via Getty Images
Jako Nice, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
The study of two hospitals was a first for researching the microbiology of the built environment in South Africa – a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding how to design healthier buildings.
A woman making masks in Alexandra, Johannesburg. The South African government hasn’t consulted with its citizens on COVID-19.
(Photo by Michele Spatari / AFP via Getty Images)
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand