A preliminary assessment of what the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry final report delivers — and what it leaves unresolved.

Shiny is a really fantastic platform for creating this kind of dashboard, providing one is comfortable in #R

JUST IN | Around 54 000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2024, according to new figures released alongside the @who.int’s latest World TB Report. This continues a slow downward trend in TB deaths in recent years, reports @marcuslowx.bsky.social. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/12/5...

I suspect there will be some truly fascinating presentations of data from this study at conferences 3 or 4 years from now.

MUST READ | The number of HIV viral load tests recorded by the National Health Laboratory Service is significantly less than expected since Feb 2025. Spotlight and @groundup.org.za are aware of no compelling reason to explain this except the US aid withdrawal. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/04/w...

The second in our series on the key legal questions on which the NHI court cases are likely to turn. Great work from Jesse Copelyn, as always.

Catherine Tomlinson on what still needs to happen before pharmacists can dispense ARVs without a script from a Dr.

BIG SA NEWS IN HIV PREVENTION | Our medicines regulator approved an HIV prevention shot containing lenacapavir. It provides protection for six months with a single dose. A limited public rollout is set for April 2026. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/10/27/b...

These briefings are of the best things we publish on Spotlight

MUST READ | Deep into the night while most of Cape Town is asleep, trauma surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson slips into work scrubs, hitting the highway to Groote Schuur Hospital to save the lives of critically injured patients. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/10/03/b...

Good article by Catherine Tomlinson. One of the reasons Spotlight exists is to publish clear explainers like this on important but under covered health issues.

The Gauteng health department has an annual budget of around R67 billion. This is more than 20% of the South African government’s entire spending on health. For the corrupt, the Gauteng health department is an obvious target. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/09/19/e...

NHI PUSHBACK | A key argument in challenging the NHI ACT in court is that it's irrational and unreasonable to overhaul the health system when there’s no money to do so. Spotlight dissects how the argument is being applied. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/09/16/o...

Incredible article on a fascinating case of a pregnancy bridging the Gugulethu Midwife Obstetrics Unit, Mowbray Maternity Hospital and Groote Schuur Hospital – a real health systems success story! www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/09/08/h... @uct-fhs-research.bsky.social @spotlightnsp.bsky.social

Some very good news here

Only three in every ten former miners claiming compensation from the R5-billion Tshiamiso Trust have been compensated, the Trust’s CEO Munyadziwa Kwinda told the online AGM last month. Most have been found to be medically ineligible. Read groundup.org.za/article/comp... by Sipokazi Fokazi

MUST READ | The health department plans to roll out lenacapavir, a twice-yearly HIV prevention injection in 2026. Yet, little progress has been made towards rolling out a two-monthly prevention injection, despite the four-year head start on lenacapavir. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/09/02/t...

CRIPPLING CUTS | Doctors have blown the whistle about a crisis at one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most important public hospitals, saying it is functioning far under capacity due to a series of cuts that they say is costing lives. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/09/01/w...

In his latest #InsideTheBox column, Dr Andy Gray explains how reliance mechanisms can help regulators make decisions more quickly and efficiently, and digs into the details of how South Africa can make the most of these mechanisms. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/08/25/i...

Statistics released this month confirmed that 140,000 more South Africans became unemployed between April and June, taking our unemployment rate to a scary 33.2%. Read groundup.org.za/article/nati... by Noncedo Madubedube

BATTLE TO BREATHE | Despite a landmark court ruling that upheld the right to clean air, air pollution remains rife in Emalahleni. For part 2 of this Spotlight special series, reporter Sue Segar and photographer Thom Pierce met up with activists in Mpumalanga. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/08/18/b...

BATTLE TO BREATHE | Emalahleni translates to ‘place of coal’. But for many people living here, it has also become a place of dirty air. To get first-hand accounts of their stories, Writer Susan Segar and photographer Thom Pierce travelled to Mpumalanga. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/08/04/b...

Interesting story from the US. For comparison, here is our reporting on how the price of lenalidomide (revlimid) has fluctuated in SA https://www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2023/02/15/analysis-why-has-the-price-of-this-cancer-medicine-risen-and-fallen-by-over-a-thousand-percent-since-2016/

If this monthly PrEP pill does well in phase 3 it could, probably should, become as big a deal as lenacapavir.

I’m very happy that we get to publish these very informative monthly columns from Dr Andy Gray. I have learned a lot from them.

Could AI slow science? From the always interesting Narayanan and Kapoor https://www.aisnakeoil.com/p/could-ai-slow-science?post_id=168505690&r=4q9dc1&utm_source=substack Could AI slow science?

Some great and accessible explanations in here of how TB and TB treatments work.

VACCINES | The National Department of Health is currently reviewing a recommendation by the country’s advisory group on immunisations to make a new RSV vaccine available to all pregnant women. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/07/15/g...

ICYMI | Spotlight editor @marcuslowx.bsky.social uses lots of graphs and an interactive table in the 10 sections of this special briefing to unpack what we know about the state of HIV in South Africa. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/06/09/i...

If you send out a survey that includes questions about accessibility, it is important to make sure the survey itself is fully accessible. For obvious reasons, failure to do so could invalidate any accessibility related findings. #a11y

"EVIDENCE OF DEATH" | After the abrupt end of US aid, the health system in central Mozambique descended into chaos. Spotlight and @groundup.org.za describe how the funding cuts affected hospitals. In the ensuing turmoil, children died. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/06/25/d...

I found the second edition very useful. This should be even better.

Excellent on the ground reporting by Jesse Copelyn

MUST READ | 8 million people living with HIV. 6 million on treatment. Behind these big numbers lurk a universe of fascinating dynamics. In this special briefing, Spotlight editor @marcuslowx.bsky.social unpacks what we know about the state of HIV in SA. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/06/09/i...

Few better than Catherine Tomlinson at properly reporting out stories like this

Great article from @spotlightnsp.bsky.social, with contributions from CIDER's Kim Anderson and @leighjohnsoncpt.bsky.social, explaining some of the complex dynamics of paediatric HIV in South Africa. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/05/26/a...

Very nice reporting by @elri-voigt.bsky.social that actually gets at some of the interesting underlying dynamics

A lot has happened since Anso Thom and i first reported on this back in 2018. The big question now is whether the National Prosecuting Authority will actually prosecute. Unfortunately it cannot be taken for granted that they will.

PAY BACK THE MONEY | The Special Tribunal has ordered four ambulance companies run by Thapelo Buthelezi to pay back half-a-billion rand. The matter relates to contracts first reported on in Spotlight’s #Health4Sale series. @dailymaverick.co.za www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/05/12/h...

The Constitutional Court today ordered that a Marrakesh-style section be read into SA’s Copyright Act. It is the latest chapter in a very long legal struggle https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2025/9.html @jamielove.bsky.social @ellenthoen.bsky.social

Some eye-opening numbers. One study estimated that close to half the health burden is in people who have already completed TB treatment.

GROWING THREAT | Experts say bacterial infections are responsible for more infant deaths than is generally recognised, and things may get worse as more of the bugs become resistant to commonly used antibiotics www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/04/29/a...

Excellent reporting by Jesse Copelyn

PLAN OF ACTION | Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, head of the South African Medical Research Council, tells Spotlight about efforts to find alternative funding and to preserve the country’s health research capacity. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/04/15/i...

Remarkable numbers. NIH investment in SA is roughly 1.5 times what the SAMRC gets from the SA government. So many research jobs and careers are at risk here.

Thanks, @marcuslowx.bsky.social, for explaining the global impact of this one example of USG’s pettiness & short-sightedness. Every advance in TB & HIV care relies on research in S. Africa. Cutting foreign aid funds kills people today. Cutting research funds kills people for generations.

MUST READ | Sudden and severe US cuts to grants from the world’s largest health research funder threaten to unravel SA's medical research landscape. Will government turn this crisis into an opportunity for renewal? @marcuslowx.bsky.social @groundup.org.za www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/04/03/s...

THE BIG READ | The number of people living with HIV in South Africa has for the first time reached the eight million mark. The eight million amounts to 12.8% of the population. @marcuslowx.bsky.social www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/03/31/8...

LEADING KILLER | While TB is curable, diagnosing and treating it can be tricky. In this week's newsletter, we focus on the centuries-old TB bacteria: shorturl.at/UoDc5 Join our mailing list: shorturl.at/Ntzoa

As pointed out here, there are issues with the regulation of nurse prescribing in SA that should have been addressed years ago.