Image caption, left to right: Dr Lisa Mulenga, Country Director of Girl Effect and Gauteng MEC for Health, Ms. Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, engaging with a student at VUT.
Johannesburg, 13 May25: Girl Effect South Africa, a non-profit organisation, joined the Department of Health, South African National Aids Council, Higher Health, and other partners at the ‘Close the Gap Higher Education’ event which took place on Friday, 9 May, at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT). The campaign aims to connect young people with essential health services, encourage HIV testing and treatment, and help close the country’s significant treatment gap.
With young people making up a large proportion of the estimated 5.7 million South Africans living with HIV but not on antiretroviral therapy (ART), the campaign focuses on improving access to youth-friendly healthcare on campuses and in communities. The VUT activation is part of a national strategy to achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets, which aims to ensure that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those are on treatment, and 95% of those on treatment achieve viral suppression.
Girl Effect brings its experience in youth-centred communication, behaviour change, and media to help break down stigma and promote informed, confident decision-making among young people. Its focus is especially on adolescent girls and young women, who remain at higher risk of HIV infection and are often underserved by the health system.
Through its flagship programme, Jik’iZinto, Girl Effect connects young women with transformative health education and digital engagement, empowering them to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing.
Over 1 687 students accessed HIV counselling, testing, ART initiation and contraceptive services at the event and 38 700 female and male condoms where distributed amongst the young people. The young people were educated on oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily pill that significantly reduces the risk of contracting HIV. Young people were also encouraged to conduct screenings for STIs, TB, and chronic diseases. Additionally, students actively participated in youth dialogues and peer-to-peer health education.
“Too often, young people face barriers, whether social, structural or emotional, that prevent them from seeking the healthcare they need,” said Dr Lisa Mulenga, Country Director of Girl Effect South Africa. “At Girl Effect, we work to remove those barriers by creating platforms where young people can access accurate information, engage with relatable content, and feel supported in making decisions about their health.”
Dr Mulenga, a public health and health systems expert with over two decades of experience, leads Girl Effect’s national strategy and programme delivery. The organisation collaborates with government departments, civil society and local partners to strengthen health messaging and improve access to services for underserved groups.
Gauteng MEC for Health, Ms. Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, engaged with stakeholders during the event, culminating in a pledge signing ceremony. This event demonstrated the health department’s commitment to collaborative efforts in addressing health challenges and promoting meaningful partnerships.
The ‘Close the Gap Higher Education ’ campaign aligns with the National Strategic Plan on HIV, TB and STIs (2023 – 2028), which calls for improved service integration, greater community outreach, and targeted youth interventions. In addition to healthcare services, the VUT activation featured student-led dialogues, physical wellness activities, live performances, and keynote addresses from key decision-makers.
The campaign is being delivered in partnership with Shout It Now, Soul City, LoveLife, Aids Healthcare Foundation, the South African Police Service (SAPS), and various youth organisations. The goal is not only to increase uptake of services but to change the way young people experience healthcare, making it accessible, welcoming, and relevant to their lives.
Four Cyclists Take on the 2025 KAP sani2c to Inspire South Africans with a Message of Hope
L-R_Steph Bester CEO of AllLife with Billy McLeod
From 8 to 10 May 2025, four cyclists will take on one of South Africa’s most iconic and challenging mountain bike stage races – the KAP sani2c. Covering 265 kilometres over three days from the Southern Drakensberg to Scottburgh on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, the event is known for its tough terrain, stunning scenery, and relentless pace. But this year, one team will be racing with more than just medals in mind.
Team Change of Heart is made up of two heart transplant recipients – Billy Macleod (56) and Pedro Basson (20) – and their two experienced cycling partners: Steph Bester, CEO of AllLife, and long-time cycling companion Guy Dudley. Together, they’re not just riding to finish – they’re riding to inspire.
Billy, once an accomplished cyclist and triathlete, was sidelined for six years by heart disease and given just two weeks to live before receiving his transplant.
He made a remarkable comeback in 2024 when he became the first South African heart transplant recipient to complete the KAP sani2c. This year, Billy returns with a renewed purpose – not just to ride, but to support 20-year-old Pedro through his very first stage race. For Billy, this ride is about passing the baton of hope and helping another transplant recipient believe in the impossible.
Pedro, the youngest team member at just 20 years old, will be attempting his first-ever mountain bike stage race. Having received his transplant as a teenager, Pedro’s journey to recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. Taking on sani2c is a bold and symbolic step, one he hopes will encourage other young people with chronic health conditions to dream big and push boundaries.
“This is more than a race – it’s a celebration of life and second chances,” says Steph Bester, who was set to ride alongside Billy last year but had to withdraw at the last minute due to a sudden illness. “Missing out in 2024 was heartbreaking for me, especially because this cause and this team are so close to my heart. I can’t wait to finally be on the bike with them this year. Billy and Pedro are living proof that your story doesn’t end with a diagnosis. At AllLife, we believe in the power of resilience, and this team embodies that belief. It’s an honour to support them – not only on the bike but in sharing their powerful message with the country.”
The team will be riding on e-bikes, enabling them to manage pace, terrain, and energy levels more effectively while still tackling the full challenge of the race. For Pedro, who has never raced before, the support of his three teammates – all experienced sani2c finishers – is crucial.
“Knowing I have a team behind me who understands the journey and is there to support every climb and descent makes all the difference,” Pedro shared. “It’s not just about the bike – it’s about proving to myself that anything is possible.”
AllLife is once again using this race to raise awareness for Hero777, a non-profit foundation focused on increasing organ and tissue donor registrations in South Africa. The foundation is deeply personal to the AllLife family as they deal with so many people in need of transplants daily.
It takes a community that truly understands both the unique challenges individuals face and the deep love for cycling to make something like this possible. The team is incredibly grateful for the support from AllLife, the wider cycling community, and especially race founder Glen Haw (Farmer Glen). Pedro will ride an e-bike generously sponsored by Cannondale, allowing him to tackle this life-affirming challenge alongside his team.
Whether it’s climbing steep hills or sharing laughs around the campfire, Team Change of Heart is ready to show that with support, courage, and a whole lot of heart – anything is possible.
The bones show evidence of bite marks from a large cat such as a lion, used in some gladiator shows
Although most Roman-era gladiators are believed to have mostly fought animal as well as human opponents, to date there has been little archaelogical evidence of this. Photo by David Cruz asenjo
A skeleton from Roman-era England has bite marks consistent with those of a large cat like a lion, suggesting that this individual may have died as part of a gladiator show or execution, according to a study published April 23, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Tim Thompson from Maynooth University, Ireland, and colleagues.
Records of gladiator combat in the Roman Empire have been well-documented, with evidence of both human-human conflicts and fights between humans and animals such as lions and bears. But actual gladiator remains are relatively scarce in the archaeological record – and in Britain specifically, which was occupied by the Romans from the first through fifth centuries, there has so far been no confirmed evidence of human-animal combat.
Puncture injuries by large felid scavenging on both sides of bone. Credit: Thompson et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0
The skeleton described in the new paper was likely buried sometime between 200-300 CE, near the Roman city of Eboracum, which is now York. This site contains the remains of mostly younger men, often with evidence of trauma, which has led to speculation that it could be a gladiator burial site. This specific skeleton has a series of depressions on the pelvis, which had previously been suggested as possible evidence of carnivore bites. By creating a three-dimensional scan of these marks, the researchers on this new study could compare these marks to bites from a variety of different animals.
They determined that these marks were likely bite marks from a large cat, possibly a lion. Since they were on the pelvis, they note it’s possible that these bites came as a result of the lion scavenging on the body around the time of death.
This skeleton is the first direct, physical evidence of human-animal combat from Europe during the Roman Empire. By demonstrating the possibility of gladiatorial combat or similar spectacles in modern York, this finding also gives archaeologists and historians new insight into the life and history of Roman-era England.
Lead author Prof Tim Thompson, of Maynooth University, adds: “The implications of our multidisciplinary study are huge. Here we have physical evidence for the spectacle of the Roman Empire and the dangerous gladiatorial combat on show. This provides new evidence to support our understanding of the past.”
Co-author Dr John Pearce, of King’s College London, adds: “As tangible witnesses to spectacles in Britain’s Roman amphitheatres, the bitemarks help us appreciate these spaces as settings for brutal demonstrations of power. They make an important contribution to desanitising our Roman past.”
David Jennings, CEO of York Archaeology, adds: “One of the wonderful things about archaeology is that we continue to make discoveries even years after a dig has concluded, as research methods and technology enable us to explore the past in more detail; it is now 20 years since we unearthed 80 burials at Driffield Terrace. This latest research gives us a remarkable insight into the life – and death – of this particular individual, and adds to both previous and ongoing genome research into the origins of some of the men buried in this particular Roman cemetery. We may never know what brought this man to the arena where we believe he may have been fighting for the entertainment of others, but it is remarkable that the first osteo-archaeological evidence for this kind of gladiatorial combat has been found so far from the Colosseum of Rome, which would have been the classical world’s Wembley Stadium of combat.”
Every year, hundreds of South African children courageously battle blood disorders which are treatable through stem cell transplants. Yet, while at least 250 paediatric transplants are needed annually, only 18 are performed – leading to survival rates of just 20%, compared to 80% in countries like the USA and Europe.
Ahead of Human Rights Day, Palesa Mokomele, Head of Community Engagement and Communications at DKMS Africa, highlights the urgent need for action: “Every child has the right to healthcare, which should include stem cell transplants. By working together – government, healthcare providers, and the private sector – we can remove the barriers preventing children from receiving the treatment they need.”
Overcoming Barriers to Life-Saving Transplants
Mokomele notes that while there are challenges, there are also solutions. “By addressing issues such as financial constraints, medication shortages, and limited infrastructure, we can ensure that more children receive these vital treatments. Through collaboration, we can create meaningful change.”
Addressing the Cost Challenge
One of the major hurdles in providing this life-saving treatment is the high cost of stem cell transplants, which ranges from R1 million to R1.5 million. “When a child has a matching family donor, the public healthcare system covers their transplant fully. However, for the 70% of patients who require an unrelated donor, the state covers the transplant, but not the additional costs of finding and securing a suitable donor such as tissue typing, donor searches, and stem cell procurement.,” explains Mokomele.
“Public-private partnerships, however, can ensure that all associated costs are also covered,” she points out. “Together, we can make a difference in the lives of children who need these life-saving procedures. To be effective, we must collaborate more closely and take a holistic approach.”
Building Medical Expertise
“South Africa is challenged by the lack of clinically skilled haematology nurses and clinical haematologists, but we are looking into how ways to increase capacity at this level. Training and scholarships for medical and non-medical staff in haematology and transplantation can improve the level of care provided,” says Mokomele.
She outlines some of the work of non-profit organisations like DKMS Africa in supporting knowledge transfer initiatives for healthcare professionals. “Through a combination of theoretical courses, hands-on observerships, or a hybrid of both, we aim to enhance patient outcomes. We also frequently host and participate in symposia for the medical community to exchange knowledge and explore best practices, which are essential for providing the highest quality care.”
Encouraging Donor Commitment
A strong donor registry is crucial, yet despite DKMS Africa recruiting over 100 000 potential donors, 56% of those matched decline to donate when called upon. “Becoming a donor is a powerful act – it’s a chance to give a child a second chance at life,” urges Mokomele.”
Expanding Transplant Capacity
Increasing the number of transplant beds is another crucial step. Currently, only four paediatric transplant beds are available in public transplant centres – two in the Western Cape and two in Pretoria. However, she shares encouraging news: “We are in conversations with the private sector to support the expansion of more beds in Gauteng, where the bulk of patients reside. This expansion represents a crucial step toward improving access to care.”
A Call to Action: How You Can Help
“The progress we’re seeing is promising. Together, we can ensure that no child is denied a life-saving transplant due to financial, medical, or infrastructure constraints,” concludes Mokomele. “Whether by registering as a donor, supporting fundraising efforts, or advocating for policy changes, every contribution makes a difference. With collective effort and commitment, South Africa could transform paediatric stem cell treatment – offering hope, healing, and a future to the children who need it most.”
I waited five hours to get medical treatment at Mamelodi Regional Hospital in Tshwane, with a broken wrist and an injured head.
On 19 February 2025 at about 4pm I was walking in Mamelodi West. I was on a journalism assignment, heading to informal settlements that are prone to flooding.
The street was quiet, but I felt safe because I had walked there before. Suddenly, a car stopped in front of me, and two men got out of it and tried to rob me. I ran away and jumped into the stormwater passage, but slipped and fell, hitting my face against the concrete.
When I managed to stand up, I was dizzy and my vision was blurred. I was drenched in dirty water and my belongings — my cell phone, my wallet and my camera bag — were wet.
The men who attacked me were no longer on the street. My right wrist was swollen and painful, an injury above my eye was bleeding profusely, and my head was aching. But I was relieved that I was still alive and I still had all my belongings.
I decided not to call an ambulance, but to walk about 800 metres to Mamelodi Regional Hospital.
I went to the casualty unit, expecting that I would receive treatment quickly. At the front desk, a clerk took more than 20 minutes to fill in my file. He said the hospital’s computer system was offline and he had to fill in the file with a pen. I then went to sit at the reception area. My head was aching and I repeatedly requested headache tablets from the nurses, who gave me two tablets after 30 minutes. But my pain lingered.
The wound on my face was still bleeding and my wrist was swollen and bent. About 40 minutes after my arrival, a nurse cleaned my wound and wrapped it with a bandage, stopping the bleeding.
At about 8pm, a man sitting next to me said he had arrived at the hospital at 2pm after falling from scaffolding at a construction site. He was still waiting for his X-ray results.
I went for X-rays and long afterwards, at about 10pm, I had a cast put on my wrist. I was given injections which helped with the pain. I was discharged at 11pm and went home.
In September last year, the Gauteng MEC for Health Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said that Mamelodi Regional Hospital was the first hospital in Gauteng ready to meet National Health Insurance (NHI) standards.
In response to GroundUp’s questions, Gauteng Department of Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said a triage priority system is followed at the hospital, meaning that four patients with critical wounds that required life-saving emergencies were attended to first. He said this affected my waiting time for wound care and the application of a cast.
“You were classified as Orange P2, that is a person who is in a stable condition and is not in any immediate danger, but requires observation,” said Modiba.
“At the time of your arrival, the casualty unit had 31 other patients to be seen. These include four critical cases in the resuscitation unit, ten trauma cases, 16 medical cases and four pediatric cases,” he said.
Modiba confirmed that the hospital’s computer system was offline when I arrived.
I asked Modiba whether the Gauteng Department of Health can still confidently regard this hospital as NHI-ready despite the slow delivery of medical services I experienced. Modiba said: “Mamelodi Regional Hospital remains committed to provide best healthcare services.”
Dane Wilson, Michael Stevens and Reuben van Niekerk of Jumping Kids, a nonprofit that supports young amputees.
Ahead of this year’s Cape Epic, Össur South Africa has announced the launch of its ‘What’s Your Epic?’ initiative. In partnership with Aramex, this campaign supports three nonprofit organisations (NPOs) – all of which provide hope, mobility, and independence to individuals with limited movement. ‘What’s Your Epic?’ aims to further empower amputees to overcome barriers, move freely, and live life to the fullest.
“Movement is a fundamental right. While not everyone may be an elite athlete, everyone deserves the freedom to move,” says Blignaut Knoetze, MD of Össur South Africa, a global provider of non-invasive orthopaedics. “We are committed to improving people’s mobility so that they can live their life without limitations. Our efforts and expertise are focused on helping those living with limb loss to be confident, safe and mobile, regardless of injuries or conditions that could compromise their quality of life.”
To help drive awareness for these NPOs and the valuable work that they do, so closely aligned with its own mission, Össur South Africa has entered three teams into the prestigious Cape Epic mountain bike race, with each team representing and raising funds for one of the selected NPOs. These teams not only showcase the resilience of their riders but also shine a light on the important and essential work carried out by these organisations.
The NPOs and Riders Making a Difference
Rejuvenate SA After an elective amputation in 2020, Travis Warwick-Oliver turned to adaptive sports and co-founded Rejuvenate SA with prosthetist Luvan Cass. Their nonprofit provides mobility aids and vocational training to underprivileged individuals, particularly in rural KwaZulu-Natal. As they gear up for another Cape Epic, they see it as more than just a race – it’s an opportunity to raise awareness and inspire involvement. “We’re not just trying to get people moving; we’re trying to create a better future and give them the opportunity to fend for themselves,” explains Cass. Their journey embodies resilience, community, and the belief that movement is the key to opportunity and dignity.
Jumping Kids Led by director Michael Stevens, Jumping Kids supports young amputees by providing prosthetics, education, and sporting opportunities – equipping children with limb loss with the prosthetic technology they need to run, play, and chase their dreams. Ambassadors Reuben van Niekerk and Dane Wilson (both amputees) advocate for mobility solutions, emphasising that the ‘What’s Your Epic?’ campaign is about more than just sports—it’s about redefining possibilities. “Whether through donations, raising awareness, or inspiring others, every action helps build a future where children with disabilities can thrive,” says Stevens.
Zimele NPC Rentia Retief lost her leg in a 2023 cycling accident. Just a year later, she is set to compete in the Cape Epic alongside teammate Jackie Church. Supporting Zimele NPC (‘independence’ in Xhosa), a nonprofit dedicated to empowering adult amputees to lead independent lives, Rentia is proving that disability does not define potential. “Being part of this experience is truly inspiring,” says Church, an Össur South Africa employee. “Rentia is showing others what’s possible and breaking barriers for amputees everywhere.”
“These three NPOs are lifelines for those who often lack essential resources or healthcare,” says Knoetze, Össur South Africa aims to support them by raising vital funds, thereby helping them to expand their impact and, in turn, help ensure that more amputees have the freedom to move, dream, and live fully.
“’What’s Your Epic?’ is more than a fundraising initiative—it’s a movement to shift perceptions, raise awareness, and advocate for individuals with limb loss,” adds Knoetze. “Movement changes lives. Together, we can empower amputees to overcome challenges, dream boldly, and achieve the extraordinary.”
What’s your Epic?
To support these heroes taking part in the upcoming Cape Epic, and help to extend the impact of these three NPOs (Rejuvenate SA, Jumping Kids and Zimele), please visit GivenGain: https://www.givengain.com/event/ossur-sa-giving-back.
Despite many societal changes, including technology such as dating apps and young adults waiting longer to get married, two surveys of college students conducted 10 years apart showed that their expectations about romantic relationships have remained remarkably consistent, according to a new study led from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
According to some popular culture writers and online posts by discouraged singles lamenting their inability to find romantic partners, dating is “broken,” fractured by the social isolation created by technology, pandemic lockdowns and potential partners’ unrealistic expectations.
Yet two studies of college students conducted a decade apart found that their ideas about romantic relationships have remained much the same, although the trajectories of their relationships have changed somewhat, according to study leader Brian Ogolsky, a professor of human development and family studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“College students in our study did not share this perception of dating as a broken system, despite many massive cultural shifts during this decade,” Ogolsky said. “Their perspectives on relationships today aren’t that different from what they were 10 years ago — or even 10 years before that. Instead, young adults are taking more diverse and multifaceted pathways through romantic partnering and considering a broader range of outcomes.”
Ogolsky surveyed college students ages 18-29 in 2012 and in early 2022, asking them to describe their thoughts and experiences about the typical initiation and progression of romantic relationships.
Published in the journal Personal Relationships, the study was co-written by Jennifer L. Hardesty, a professor in the same department; psychology professor Kiersten Dobson of McMaster University; and U. of I. graduate students Matthew Rivas-Koehl and Ghada Kawas.
More than 250 students were surveyed, about half of whom said they had romantic partners at the time.
Based upon participants’ responses, the researchers identified four stages of romantic relationships. The first stage, which they called “flirtationship,” may occur online or in person and involves the first sparks of attraction, fanning those embers through flirtation and exploring common interests.
If the attraction and level of interest are mutual, the individuals test the waters for “relationship potential” — the second stage in relationship development — by spending increased time together, with a heavy focus on communicative activities that probe whether the relationship should move forward. Study participants repeatedly mentioned friendship as an important basis for romantic partnerships, and they most often mentioned dating in reference to this stage, the data indicated.
“Young adults clearly distinguish dating from being in a relationship,” Ogolsky said. “In our study, we used the term ‘relationship development’ to describe the activities we were investigating, but it became clear that participants did not view early behaviors as part of being in a relationship per se. Instead, they viewed flirting and even dating as part of a broader pattern of interpersonal interaction that may or may not eventually lead to the formation of a relationship.”
If romance does blossom and the union progresses to the third stage — being in a relationship — defining their union becomes important to the partners, such as labeling their status as “official” and identifying themselves as significant others, the researchers said.
Although those in the first study were less likely to mention sexual activity, students in both studies were more likely to talk about it in the context of defining the relationship. And the researchers found that the majority of the students in both studies implied an expectation of exclusivity and monogamy from committed relationships.
Although many studies on young adults’ relationships have focused on hookup culture — casual sex without commitment — only nine of those in the more recent study mentioned it. And the researchers hypothesized that college students may use the term when referring to sexual activity in any context, even that which occurs within a predefined relationship.
Ogolsky said it was during the third stage that the greatest differences emerged between the two groups of students’ beliefs. Those in the 2012 study were more likely to believe that the typical relationship path was for partners to become engaged after becoming official. However, those in the 2022 study rarely mentioned engagement, saying instead that commitment proceeds in more diverse pathways such as moving in together.
“Another difference we found pertained to integrating romantic partners into one’s social circle,” Ogolsky said. “For the students in 2012, this process centered around introducing a new partner to family members. However, those in the more recent study viewed it as integrating the partner into one’s broader social networks of friends as well as family members.”
In the fourth relationship stage — called “commitment or bust” — Ogolsky said that participants described arriving at an eventual crossroads, where the partners either decide to marry or enter into another type of long-term legal commitment or go their separate ways.
Surprisingly, despite the rapid growth in social media, dating apps and other platforms for meeting potential partners that proliferated across the decade between the two surveys, technology did not play as big a role in the minds of the participants as expected, Ogolsky said.
“When we ask people about relationship prototypes, they’re not talking about technology,” he said. “They’re thinking about relationships in broad strokes. And we found it interesting that the centerpiece of relationships was not dating apps, artificial intelligence or robots or all the other things we may have predicted 25 or 40 years ago.”
Ever notice how much more tempting it is to pick up fast food for dinner after being stuck in traffic? It’s not just you. New research shows that traffic delays significantly increase visits to fast food restaurants, leading to unhealthier eating.
“In our analysis focusing on Los Angeles County, unexpected traffic delays beyond the usual congestion led to a 1% increase in fast food visits. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s equivalent to 1.2 million more fast food visits per year in LA County alone. We describe our results as being modest but meaningful in terms of potential for changing unhealthy food choices,” said study author Becca Taylor, assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Taylor and her co-authors had access to more than two years’ of daily highway traffic patterns in Los Angeles, along with data showing how many cell phone users entered fast-food restaurants in the same time period.
With these data, the team created a computational model showing a causal link between unexpected traffic slow-downs and fast food visits. This pattern held at various time scales, including 24-hour cycles and by the hour throughout a given day. When analysed by the day, traffic delays of just 30 seconds per mile were enough to spike fast-food visits by 1%.
“It might not be intuitive to imagine what a 30-second delay per mile feels like,” Taylor said. “I think of it as the difference between 10a.m. traffic and 5p.m. traffic.”
When the researchers broke the day into hour-long segments, they found a significantly greater number of fast food visits when traffic delays hit during the evening rush hour. At the same time, grocery store visits declined slightly.
“If there’s traffic between 5 and 7p.m., which happens to be right around the evening meal time, we see an increase in fast food visits,” Taylor said.
“Drivers have to make a decision about whether to go home and cook something, stop at the grocery store first, or just get fast food.”
Considering every major city has both traffic and fast food restaurants lining highway feeder roads, it’s not a stretch to extrapolate the pattern beyond Los Angeles.
Taylor and her co-authors say the link between traffic and unhealthy food choices is just one more reason policymakers around the country and the globe should prioritize infrastructure reforms to ease congestion.
“Our results contribute to the literature suggesting time constraints are really important to the food choices people make. Any policies aimed at loosening time constraints – and traffic is essentially lost time – could help battle unhealthy eating,” Taylor said. “That could mean improvements in infrastructure to mitigate traffic congestion, expanding public transport availability, and potentially increasing work from home opportunities.”
Among the 85 000 undergraduate applications for 2025 Wits received for 2025, the single most-applied for degree was for the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBCh). Of these applications, the university could only register around 6000 first-year students. These students represent the best of the best, earning their place in one of Africa’s most competitive academic environments, with an average of over five distinctions per student in their matric results.
From KZN, Glenwood High School’s Brydyn Le’Jean Barnabas, who was offered a place to study MBBCh, says, “I’ve been hearing from friends and family that this is such a prestigious university. It’s not only backed by impressive statistics but also has a rich culture and heritage, having been around for decades. Compared to other universities, it’s truly a privilege to be here. When I received my acceptance letter, my heart dropped – not just with joy but with gratitude for this opportunity.”
Bachelor of Pharmacy was also a popular degree, coming in at the fifth most applied-for.
Recent enrolment trend assessments indicate that the majority of students offered a place at Wits have achieved an Admission Point Score (APS) exceeding 30, with most scoring 34 or higher. The minimum APS required for degree programmes at Wits is 30, making entry into the university a significant accomplishment.
Wits continues to uphold its reputation as a hub for academic excellence and innovation, attracting top-performing students from across the country and the continent. The university remains committed to nurturing the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and innovators.
For more information about the experiences of first-year students and why they chose Wits, read more here: Wits News.
AI image made with Gencraft using Quicknews’ prompts.
Quicknews takes a look at some of the big events and concerns that defined healthcare 2024, and looks into its crystal ball identify to new trends and emerging opportunities from various news and opinion pieces. There’s a lot going on right now: the battle to make universal healthcare a reality for South Africans, growing noncommunicable diseases and new technologies and treatments – plus some hope in the fight against HIV and certain other diseases.
1. The uncertainty over NHI will continue
For South Africa, the biggest event in healthcare was the signing into law of the National Health Insurance (NHI) by President Ramaphosa in May 2024, right before the elections. This occurred in the face of stiff opposition from many healthcare associations. It has since been bogged down in legal battles, with a section governing the Certificate of Need to practice recently struck down by the High Court as it infringed on at least six constitutional rights.
Much uncertainty around the NHI has been expressed by various organisation such as the Health Funders Association (HFA). Potential pitfalls and also benefits and opportunities have been highlighted. But the biggest obstacle of all is the sheer cost of the project, estimated at some R1.3 trillion. This would need massive tax increases to fund it – an unworkable solution which would see an extra R37 000 in payroll tax. Modest economic growth of around 1.5% is expected for South Africa in 2025, but is nowhere near creating enough surplus wealth to match the national healthcare of a country like Japan. And yet, amidst all the uncertainty, the healthcare sector is expected to do well in 2025.
Whether the Government of National Unity (GNU) will be able to hammer out a workable path forward for NHI remains an open question, with various parties at loggerheads over its implementation. Public–private partnerships are preferred by the DA and groups such as Solidarity, but whether the fragile GNU will last long enough for a compromise remains anybody’s guess.
It is reported that latest NHI proposal from the ANC includes forcing medical aid schemes to lower their prices by competing with government – although Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has dismissed these reports. In any case, medical aid schemes are already increasing their rates as healthcare costs continue to rise in what is an inexorable global trend – fuelled in large part by ageing populations and increases in noncommunicable diseases.
Further on the horizon, there are a host of experimental drugs undergoing testing for obesity treatment, according to a review published in Nature. While GLP-1 remains a target for many new drugs, others focus on gut hormones involved in appetite: GIP-1, glucagon, PYY and amylin. There are 5 new drugs in Phase 3 trials, expected variously to finish between 2025 and 2027, 10 drugs in Phase 2 clinical trials and 18 in Phase 1. Some are also finding applications beside obesity. The GLP-1 agonist survodutide, for example have received FDA approval not for obesity but for liver fibrosis.
With steadily increasing rates of overweight/obesity and disorders associated with them, this will continue to be a prominent research area. In the US, where the health costs of poor diet match what consumers spend on groceries, ‘food as medicine’ has become a major buzzword as companies strive to deliver healthy nutritional solutions. Retailers are providing much of the push, and South Africa is no exception. Medical aid scheme benefits are giving way to initiatives such as Pick n Pay’s Live Well Club, which simply offers triple Smart Shopper points to members who sign up.
Another promising approach to the obesity fight is precision medicine, which factors in many data about the patient to identify the best interventions. This could include detailed study of energy balance regulation, helping to select the right antiobesity medication based on actionable behavioural and phsyiologic traits. Genotyping, multi-omics, and big data analysis are growing fields that might also uncover additional signatures or phenotypes better responsive to certain interventions.
3. AI tools become the norm
Wearable health monitoring technology has gone from the lab to commonly available consumer products. Continued innovation in this field will lead to cheaper, more accurate devices with greater functionality. Smart rings, microneedle patches and even health monitoring using Bluetooth earphones such as Apple’s Airpods show how these devices are becoming smaller and more discrete. But health insurance schemes remain unconvinced as to their benefits.
After making a huge splash in 2024 as it rapidly evolved, AI technology is now maturing and entering a consolidation phase. Already, its use has become commonplace in many areas: the image at the top of the article is AI-generated, although it took a few attempts with the doctors exhibiting polydactyly and AI choosing to write “20215” instead of “2025”. An emerging area is to use AI in patient phenotyping (classifying patients based on biological, behavioural, or genetic attributes) and digital twins (virtual simulations of individual patients), enabling precision medicine. Digital twins for example, can serve as a “placebo” in a trial of a new treatment, as is being investigated in ALS research.
Rather than replacing human doctors, it is likely that AI’s key application is reducing lowering workforce costs, a major component of healthcare costs. Chatbots, for example, could engage with patients and help them navigate the healthcare system. Other AI application include tools to speed up and improve diagnosis, eg in radiology, and aiding communication within the healthcare system by helping come up with and structure notes.
4. Emerging solutions to labour shortages
Given the long lead times to recruit and train healthcare workers, 2025 will not likely see any change to the massive shortages of all positions from nurses to specialists.
At the same time, public healthcare has seen freezes on hiring resulting in the paradoxical situation of unemployed junior doctors in a country desperately in need of more doctors – 800 at the start of 2024 were without posts. The DA has tabled a Bill to amend the Health Professions Act at would allow private healthcare to recruit interns and those doing community service. Critics have pointed out that it would exacerbate the existing public–private healthcare gap.
But there are some welcome developments: thanks to a five-year plan from the Department of Health, family physicians in SA are finally going to get their chance to shine and address many problems in healthcare delivery. These ‘super generalists’ are equipped with a four-year specialisation and are set to take up roles as clinical managers, leading multi-disciplinary district hospital teams.
Less obvious is where the country will be able to secure enough nurses to meet its needs. The main challenge is that nurses, especially specialist nurses, are ageing – and it’s not clear where their replacements are coming from. In the next 15 years, some 48% of the country’s nurses are set to retire. Coupled with that is the general consensus that the new nursing training curriculum is a flop: the old one, from 1987 to 2020, produced nurses with well-rounded skills, says Simon Hlungwani, president of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa). There’s also a skills bottleneck: institutions like Baragwanath used to cater for 300 students at a time, now they are only approved to handle 80. The drive for recruitment will also have to be accompanied by some serious educational reform to get back on track.
5. Progress against many diseases
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to drive declines in new HIV infections. Lifetime odds of getting HIV have fallen by 60% since the 1995 peak. It also saw the largest decrease in population without a suppressed level of HIV (PUV), from 19.7 million people in 2003 to 11.3 million people in 2021. While there is a slowing in the increase of population living with HIV, it is predicted to peak by 2039 at 44.4 million people globally. But the UNAIDS HIV targets for 2030 are unlikely to be met.
As human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programmes continue, cervical cancer deaths in young women are plummeting, a trend which is certain to continue.
A ‘new’ respiratory virus currently circulating in China will fortunately not be the next COVID. Unlike SARS-CoV-2, human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has been around for decades, and only causes a few days of mild illness, with bed rest and fluids as the primary treatment. The virus has limited pandemic potential, according to experts.
