Marcus Low

SCRAMBLING FOR WORK | South Africa has a healthcare worker crisis. Those in power need to face it and think bigger about how to address it. We have more details in our newsletter: tinyurl.com/2fjrhzxr Join our mailing list: tinyurl.com/82jdsfjy

Important article by Sue Segar. I’m very glad we could publish this.

HIV TREATMENT | South Africa already has much of the policy and evidence it needs to simplify HIV treatment. Three changes should now be prioritised, argue Dr Anna Grimsrud and Lynne Wilkinson. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/10/14/t...

SA CANCER STORY | Our massive HPV vaccination campaign is set to slash cervical cancer rates in the coming decades. Biénne Huisman unpacks the details in part 3 of a Daily Maverick and Spotlight special series on cancer in South Africa. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/10/13/s...

Finally, a study of tongue swabs on patients who actually need them (no sputum). Hooray at last. 50% sensitivity is probably useful. #tuberculosis journals.theunion.org/content/ijtl...

The Gauteng Department of e-Government waited 14 days before reporting serious security flaws in its e-Panic Button app to the Information Regulator. Read groundup.org.za/article/we-f... by Joel Cedras

Asymptomatic TB has for good reasons been getting attention, but this study suggests simply testing more symptomatic people is a more urgent priority. I suspect most people knew this at some level, but useful to have modelling that brings it into such clear focus.

DID YOU KNOW | South African health and medicines law does not clearly define what is meant by a “medicines shortage”. Dr Andy Gray zooms in on how governments can monitor and plan for medicine shortages. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/10/07/i...

Very pleased to contribute to this meta-analysis. Among contacts of #TB, protection from preventive therapy waned quickly in high incidence settings, but persisted for years in low and medium incidence settings authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S... @uofgshw.bsky.social 🦠🧪🛟

KILLER DISEASE | The reasons cryptococcal meningitis continues to take a toll on people living with HIV are varied and complex. Here's some of the key takeaways: tinyurl.com/4bunjacy Join our mailing list: tinyurl.com/82jdsfjy

One of the best briefings we’ve published so far

UNPAID AND UNPROTECTED | For years, hospitals have relied on the unpaid, unprotected labour of trainee-specialists to fill their rosters, but these doctors are reaching a breaking point. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/09/09/e...

Some great reporting here on what is essentially an epidemiology story

The value of the OpenSAFELY approach is somewhat underplayed here

World’s largest research funder lifts ban on South Africa The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) has lifted its ban nearly 18 months after an order to stop work with South...

Come learn the basics of bNAbs for HIV. Another great briefing article by Catherine Tomlinson.

Very disappointing when a trial turns out to have been underpowered like this.

#InsideTheBox | In his latest column for Spotlight, Dr Andy Gray unpacks the legal background and the current state of the still unfolding regulatory saga surrounding complementary and alternative medicines. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/08/14/i...

Compression Is Prediction | Discussion

OVERLOOKED | Dr Hermann Reuter believes substance abuse is the country’s biggest health issue after HIV, but it's being ignored. Spotlight visited his NGO SAHARA in George to find out how he and his team are helping to change this. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/08/03/d...

Positive interim findings on new once-weekly HIV treatment pill A new antiretroviral combination pill that is taken only once a week appears to work as well as daily pills at treating HIV....

A brief history of the Thembisa HIV model, by Leigh Johnson. A great overview of one of the most impressive infectious disease models around https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7041598

What will be left for us to work on? | Discussion

UP CLOSE | Being a researcher who studies tuberculosis in the lab is one thing, having the TB bug in your lungs is quite another. @elri-voigt.bsky.social sat down with two of a relatively small number of people who have experienced both. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/07/13/f...

The Msunduzi Local Municipality has spent R1.18-billion on a new public transport network that is still not operational. It started planning the project 15 years ago, but it has not moved beyond the first phase of construction. Read groundup.org.za/article/piet... by Joseph Bracken

IN THE SPOTLIGHT | Globally, childhood vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives since 1974. In this special briefing, we detail which vaccines are in used in South Africa. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/07/01/i...

groundup.org.za/article/impo...

SHINGLES VACCINE | A new, more effective shingles vaccine is finally set to hit the market in South Africa. The vaccine, Shingrix, should soon be available at private sector pharmacies, but availability in the public sector seems unlikely for the time being. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/06/25/n...

Ember, a native iOS Hacker News reader I built around accessibility | Discussion

This is an excellent and important series from GroundUp. Unfortunately the South African government seems indifferent.

Our special briefing ahead of the launch of SA’s lenacapavir rollout

DELAYED AGAIN | Seven months after a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling allowed for specially trained pharmacists to dispense antiretroviral medicines without a doctor’s script, no pharmacists are yet providing these services. Spotlight explores why. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/06/02/w...

Our take on estimates from Thembisa 5.0

JUST PUBLISHED | The number of people in South Africa on antiretroviral treatment remained roughly unchanged from 2024-2025, according to the newest estimates from the leading mathematical model of HIV in the country. Spotlight unpacks these latest numbers. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/05/15/s...

The latest CID supplement issue examines key aspects of tuberculosis (TB), including transmission, disease progression, diagnostic approaches, and treatment strategies. ↪️ https://bit.ly/3On4jaL

LENACAPAVIR IN KZN | Spotlight visited northern KwaZulu-Natal to see first-hand how collaborative efforts will bring a groundbreaking HIV prevention jab to an area where HIV infection rates remain stubbornly high. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/05/11/a...

Makhudu Sefara stepped aside as editor of the Sunday Times and chair of the SANEF last week. This followed the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) naming him in an investigation into the alleged misuse of Lottery funds. Read groundup.org.za/article/sane... by GroundUp Editors

THE STAKES ARE HIGH | The Constitutional Court will soon hear the first two of several major court challenges relating to the National Health Insurance Act. Read our newsletter for the crucial takeaways: tinyurl.com/bddwsha9 Join our mailing list: tinyurl.com/82jdsfjy

19 years ago, these 10 NGOs issued a statement opposing a WIPO broadcasting treaty. Not much has changed. web.archive.org/web/20070707...

Vaccines mean malaria deaths should be falling — not rising www.nature.com/articles/d41... Nature Editorial.

We covered the US research funding cuts and their impact on SA in some detail last year. I’m glad we could circle back to it.

When are uncontrolled trials in TB scientifically and ethically justified: Borrowing wisdom from early AIDS clinical trials ✅ Just Accepted 🔗 https://bit.ly/4bPWGTk

MOOD MUSIC | The health department needs a world-class manager. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision for a new Director-General will say a lot about how serious he is about fixing our many health challenges, argues Spotlight editor @marcuslowx.bsky.social. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/04/10/r...

OUR BIG READ | Despite the urgent need for new tools to tackle obesity and weight-related illness in people with HIV, there has been very little research to date on GLP-1 use in people with HIV. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/04/08/w...