South Africa News

Mpumalanga, September 2015 - The World Health Organization with South Africa’s National Department of Health and partners including the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases have begun training Malaria Case Investigators to strengthen malaria surveillance efforts for the 2015/2016 malaria season.  The training is being held to ensure that case investigators are able to classify all malaria cases.

Johannesburg, 28 September 2015 - South Africa’s health information systems provide a rich source of data on the burden of disease caused by tuberculosis (TB) and the effectiveness of efforts to reduce this burden, both of which are crucial for public health action. However, the available data are often underused, or not used at all. At least in part, this may reflect the absence of clear guidance on recommended approaches to the analysis of such data.

UN agencies have agreed to develop a joint work plan on antiretroviral (ART) adherence after the WHO in South Africa presented the current status and challenges of ART adherence to UN agencies. This followed a request by the UN Resident Coordinator on how UN agencies could contribute to improving adherence rates.

ART adherence is particularly important in South Africa which has the largest treatment program in the world and is rapidly expanding ART to over 3 million people and introducing new policies for earlier treatment initiation.

Johannesburg, 10 September 2015 - Polio eradication is a global effort coordinated by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to deliver a polio-free world by 2018. The effort requires countries to strengthen surveillance, improve the quality of immunization campaigns and build national capacity to respond to outbreaks.  While countries are at different levels of the eradication effort, South Africa has maintained Polio Free Certification indicators at national level since the acceptance of the country documentation in 2006 by the African Regional Certification Commission (ARCC).

Johannesburg, 2 October 2015 - The South African government has established a Ministerial Advisory Committee on Mental Health which will be inaugurated on Friday, 2 October 2015. The WHO Representative in South Africa, provided a statement of support at the inauguration which was attended by the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the Director-General of Health, Ms Precious Matsoso, members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee and other key stakeholders.

To contribute to the debate about costing Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the WHO Country Office in collaboration with WHO HQ developed the attached brief to help think through the implications.  “How much will the reform cost?” is a common and sensible-sounding question in planning any major health reform. Indeed, it is a question that national finance authorities have to ask. Unfortunately, the answer is complicated – although the expectation is that it is simple and straightforward.

Pretoria – In support of the second ever UHC on 12 December 2015, the WHO joins nearly 600 partners in celebrating progress in over 100 countries in achieving universal health coverage.

In South Africa, WHO celebrates both UHC Day and the launch of the National Health Insurance white paper launched today, which provides the roadmap for realizing universal health coverage in South Africa. 

Clim-Health Africa, an international network of institutions working on climate change and health for Africa, was established in 2013. The network continues to serve as a virtual hub where expertise can be shared to develop the capacity of African communities, institutions, practitioners and negotiators to understand and integrate climate change and health related challenges into policy, socio-economics, planning and programming. The network’s first annual meeting was held in Johannesburg in 2013.

Pretoria, 17 February 2016 - The WHO Country Office in South Africa and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are making oral submissions to the Competition Commission's Market Inquiry into Private Healthcare on 17 February 2016 in Pretoria.

Final Report

Summary Document

Pretoria, 15 March 2016 - During the annual ODA Coordinating Forum chaired by the Honorable Minister and attended by a dozen ambassadors, the WHO Representative in her capacity as Acting UN Resident Coordinator, delivered the UN statement of support.  In the statement, the UN recognized National Health Insurance as the embodiment of South Africa’s international commitments that recognize health as a right for all individuals.