Francois Venter

US #science funding remains frozen despite congressional approval, #lenacapavir for #PrEP rollout accelerates across Africa, and South Africa explores local production. Plus: AVAC launches #AccessBridge to speed equitable access to #HIV prevention & #SRH tools.

🔗 avac.org/blog/global-...

Through dust and carrying steel, Maryke Bezuidenhout takes care to people with disabilities in KZN’s rural corners Maryke Bezuidenhout is constantly on the road in rural, northern KwaZulu-Natal visiting and helping people with disabilities where they live. As part of Spotlight’s new Rural Health Heroes series, wri...

www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/03/05/t...

Weight-loss jab could be made for $3 a month, study finds Cheap semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, could help millions with diabetes and obesity in 160 countries

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

HIV made him expect to die at 40. At 73, Edwin Cameron asks: Who’s planning for our ageing survivors? - Bhekisisa 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 ...

bhekisisa.org/features/sho...

Thato Moncho: A fearless fighter for justice for all cancer patients Thato Moncho, who died of cancer on 2 January 2026, was the face and voice behind the landmark Cancer Alliance<

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...

Two Things that Prolong Life and a Great Recent Paper A Happy New Year gift to me and everyone who shares one or both of these enthusiasms.

paulsaxmd.substack.com/p/two-things...

Child deaths set to rise for first time this century, report The number of children dying before their fifth birthday is projected to rise for the first time this century, according to a new report.

www.newsweek.com/child-deaths...

Fix the crisis in our clinics & give us 6 month ARV refills so that 1.1 million more people will start AND stay on treatment! - TAC Makgwabe, 30 November 2025 – To mark World AIDS Day 2025, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is calling on the South African government to urgently fix the ongoing crisis in our clinics. Without addr...

www.tac.org.za/news/fix-the...

Types of HIV Papers -- A Quick Guide I spend a lot of my time reading HIV clinical research papers. A lot. So here, for your viewing pleasure, is a poster I updated and modified from a brilliant xkcd web comic (using this tool), describi...

blogs.jwatch.org/hiv-id-obser... Remains one of the funniest (if nerdiest) HIV posts ever

The 2025 HIV Market Report: The state of the HIV market in low- and middle-income countries - Clinton Health Access Initiative 26,000 children lost HIV treatment in 6 months. CHAI’s 2025 HIV Market Report shows funding cut impacts in 14 countries. Download data now.

www.clintonhealthaccess.org/report/2025-... A regional disaster

#InTheSpotlight | Why government should provide more free HIV self-tests It is estimated that around half a million people living with HIV in South Africa don’t know they are living with the virus. One way to help these people is by offering them the means to test themselv...

www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/24/i...

Going to be so interesting.

Report spotlights ‘system-wide slide’ in basics for health facility standards after Pepfar cuts A report by the community-led monitoring group Ritshidze has shown that among 326 public health facilities surveyed by the team, 48% reported reduced capacity after the Pepfar disruptions that took pl...

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025... ".., despite a circular from ... National Department of Health, Dr Sandile Buthelezi, greenlighting six-month ART dispensation for eligible patients in February 2025, no facilities were officially implementing this strategy..."

PEPFAR cuts leave clinics short of staff Survey finds longer waiting times for ARVs

groundup.org.za/article/clin...

“Now they give me a 1 a month refill.. they never explained why” – #KZNHealth - TAC “I would appreciate receiving a 6 month supply of ARVs. Going to the clinic every month or two is difficult. I have to miss work, wait long hours, and sometimes don’t receive the service I need, only ...

www.tac.org.za/news/now-the...

#InTheSpotlight | Amid all the noise, how well is SA’s immunisation programme actually doing Childhood immunisation programmes have saved many millions of lives and prevented much suffering. Yet, immunisation programmes have lost momentum over the last decade or so. In this #InTheSpotlight sp...

www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/10/13/i...

Ritshidze data pinpoint challenges following PEPFAR disruptions that duty bearers must action - TAC Johannesburg, 10 October 2025 – Between April and June 2025, a scaled down team at the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) began monitoring through Ritshidze to assess the state of our clinics. During the...

www.tac.org.za/news/ritshid...

Pharmacists can treat people with HIV, appeal court rules “Legitimate and compelling public interests” to allow pharmacists to initiate antiretroviral treatment, says judge

groundup.org.za/article/phar... And now on appeal, with costs. These court cases have set our HIV response back by years.

"South African women do not need more pink balloons or hashtags. They need functioning diagnostic clinics, staffed and equipped laboratories and radiology services, adequate theatre slates, more chemotherapy chairs..., research that is based on our unique population and well-trained oncology teams."

Beyond the pink ribbon: Breast cancer and the battlefield of a woman’s body If breast cancer teaches us anything, it is that our bodies cannot wait for political promises. South African women deserve more than pink campaigns that do not translate into measurable change.

www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/... Pinkwashing and hollow solidarity

Study shows how we can massively improve hypertension treatment Rather than spend hours at a clinic, patients measured their own blood pressure

groundup.org.za/article/stud...

ICYMI last night #SCOTUS ruled in AVAC's legal case to give the Administration a free pass to withhold #foreignaid. A dissenting judge warned that the stakes in this case are too significant to be decided through the Court’s emergency docket.

Please, we are begging you, listen to REAL doctors and scientists.

And in case anyone needs a reminder: neither Donald Trump or RFK Jr. are doctors.

More ways, to save more lives, for less money: World Health Assembly adopts more Best Buys to tackle noncommunicable diseases The World Health Organization has expanded the list of ‘NCD best buys’. The updated list was approved at the 76th World Health Assembly, a move that will support governments to select lifesaving inter...

www.who.int/news/item/26... "The era of governments subsidizing the profits of private industries by footing the long-term health care costs of cheap tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks must end."

EDITORIAL | The rot runs deep: Gauteng Health’s dance of impunity betrays the people it is meant to serve The courts have spoken. The health ombud has issued devastating reports. The Auditor-General has again put damning evidence on the table. Civil society has protested. Yet, the devastating crisis in Ga...

www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/09/19/e... "Whichever way you slice it, the harsh truth is that even in 2025, the devastating crisis in Gauteng’s health system shows no sign of improvement. Corruption still plagues the department just as severely as it did a decade ago, if not more so."

Opinion | Trump’s Most Lethal Policy

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/o...

Calls For South Africa To Build Sustainable HIV Programmes, Reduce Reliance On Donors To build sustainable HIV programmes in south africa, we must focus on innovative approaches rather than seeking more funding from donors.

health-e.org.za/2025/09/10/c...

SA’s new emergency: Accountability is becoming a death sentence We cannot afford to look away from the assassination of lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk – the latest in what appears to be an escalation of threats and attacks against lawyers, investigators, auditors, whis...

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025... Brilliant article. Especially about those armchair right wingers and empty statements from government.

On the Brink of Catastrophe: U.S. Foreign Aid Disruption to HIV Services in Tanzania and Uganda - PHR U.S. cuts to global aid have caused backsliding on decades of progress in HIV care, treatment, and prevention.

phr.org/our-work/res...

Malawi set to run out of TB drugs in a month after US, UK and others cut aid Gains in cutting deaths from tuberculosis at risk as health officials warn clinics forced to ration drugs and testing

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...