Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism

02/09/2026

The first generic weight-loss drug hit SA in August — with many expected to follow.

But who knew that it was a carnivorous lizard with a forked tongue, sharp claws and beady skin that helped rewire the appetite of millions of people around the world?

Find out more: https://bhekisisa.org/health-news-south-africa/2026-08-24-the-first-generic-weight-loss-drug-hit-sa-in-august-with-many-expected-to-follow-will-it-be-enough-to-kill-the-black-market/

02/09/2026

A major new research project aiming to transform care for women with heavy periods is to create the world's largest menstrual fluid biobank. Read Rosaline Daniel’s pick in today’s .

https://mailchi.mp/bhekisisa.org/8480782-15074338-nb3qcrn17v-15076149

02/09/2026

What happens when health journalists stop competing? In today’s newsletter, Mia Malan tells us why sharing sources makes health journalism stronger, not weaker.

https://mailchi.mp/bhekisisa.org/8480782-15074338-nb3qcrn17v-15076149

02/09/2026

We gave our competitors access to our sources.

That sounds like a fairly bad business strategy for a newsroom.

Journalists compete for stories, audiences and increasingly scarce money. And Bhekisisa has spent years building specialist health knowledge and relationships that help us do the journalism we do.

But last week we shared some of that.

We brought 10 specialist health journalists and editors together for two days devoted to one deceptively simple subject: the six-monthly HIV prevention injection, lenacapavir.

We opened up access to some of the researchers, data and sources that have helped us understand the science and South Africa's roll-out.

Why?

Because good health journalism needs more than a press release and an expert quote.

Journalists need enough understanding to interrogate the science, question government data and recognise the stories hidden inside a rollout.

And they need to hear from the people health policies are supposed to serve.

One of our favourite parts of the workshop was watching the four LEN users we'd invited stay for the sessions and start asking scientists and officials their own questions.

Could one of the journalists in that room now beat Bhekisisa to a LEN story?

We hope so.

We'll compete again.

But hopefully we'll all compete a little better.



https://bhekisisa.org/health-news-south-africa/2026-09-02-we-gave-our-competitors-our-hiv-sources-heres-why/

02/09/2026

We gave our competitors our HIV sources. Why?

Journalists compete. For stories. For audiences. For money.

But last week Bhekisisa did something slightly counterintuitive: we brought 10 specialist health journalists and editors together and shared some of what we've learned from reporting intensively on the six-monthly HIV prevention injection, lenacapavir (LEN).

They interrogated government uptake and stock data, questioned modelling scientists and implementation researchers, met people using LEN and visited a Cape Town clinic to see the roll-out for themselves.

But something else happened too.

The four LEN users we'd invited didn't simply tell their stories and leave. They stayed for the sessions and questioned the experts themselves.

For two days, the lines between journalist, scientist, official and patient became a little less rigid.

Could sharing our sources help another publication beat Bhekisisa to its next LEN story? Yes.

We think that's a risk worth taking.

Because better-informed journalists asking tougher questions ultimately means better health journalism for everyone.

https://bhekisisa.org/health-news-south-africa/2026-09-02-we-gave-our-competitors-our-hiv-sources-heres-why/

31/08/2026

Mamelodi resident Kgaugelo Baloyi used to depend on nyaope, a **in derivative. Now he’s replaced it with six millilitres of and feels hopeful for the 1st time in years.

Find out more in this episode of : https://bhekisisa.org/bhekisisa-tv/health-beat/2024-10-28-health-beat-24-why-does-sa-treat-drug-addiction-as-a-criminal-rather-than-a-health-problem/

28/08/2026

South Africa has finally launched Shingrix — a vaccine that's more than 90% effective at preventing shingles.

But researchers have found something else that has scientists excited: people who got shingles vaccines also appeared less likely to develop dementia.

Does that mean the vaccine prevents dementia?

Not necessarily.

We unpack what the research really shows, why experts are hopeful, and why they're also urging caution.

🔗 Read the full story: https://bhekisisa.org/article/2026-07-15-what-if-a-shingles-jab-could-also-protect-your-brain/

26/08/2026

Health journalism doesn't have to be all headlines.

Take a break with the Bhekisisa crossword and see how much you remember about South Africa's health system and policies.

https://bhekisisa.org/bhekisisa-crossword/2026-08-26-bhekisisa-crossword-14/

26/08/2026

The dept of water affairs claims to be dealing with persistent sewage spills and burst sewer pipes in the Vaal Triangle.

But residents say they haven't noticed much action.

Bhekisisa visited the area to find out if anything has changed since our 2023 story: https://tinyurl.com/vaal-water

26/08/2026

Thousands of kilometres separate Nairobi's Ngong River and Johannesburg's Jukskei. But stand on their banks and the differences melt away: the same flash floods, the same stench of sewage, the same rivers of plastic — and the same communities left to cope.

In our new feature, Sean Christie compares life alongside these two troubled rivers: the floods that kill and traumatise, the water so polluted it spreads cholera and salmonella, and the scattershot efforts to fix it all.

The Ngong in Nairobi and the Jukskei in Johannesburg run through some of Africa's most crowded neighbourhoods. Both are killing and sickening the people who live alongside them. We compare the floods, the filth and the fixes.