Health

Government has assured fans that South Africa’s health facilities – both hospitals and clinics – are ready for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and will provide health services of an international standard.

Universal health coverage is a worldwide phenomenon supported by the World Health Organisation, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said as he tabled his department's budget vote in Parliament in Cape Town.

South African President Jacob Zuma, launching the country's HIV Counselling and Testing campaign on Sunday, announced that he was HIV-negative - while stressing that people's results always remained private and confidential.

While South Africa's latest antenatal prevalence survey shows a stabilisation in the country's HIV prevalence rate since 2006, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi wants more to be done to implement the government's plans to combat the epidemic.

South Africa's health care train, Phelophepa, is celebrating 10 years of service, during which it has reached more than a million rural residents countrywide. The train is the first of its kind in the world, and one of the most ambitious corporate projects ever undertaken in SA.

The World Health Organization has done an about-turn on the use of DDT to fight malaria, citing South Africa's successful anti-malaria programme as evidence that controlled indoor spraying of the insecticide is not only safe, but "one of the best tools we have" against the killer disease.

Two of the Miss South Africa Top 15 semi-finalists – Karishma Ramdev and Thato Mosehle – are medical doctors who are currently working at...

Bafana Bafana made a perfect start to the Orange Africa Nations Championship, or Chan 2014 tournament, with a gritty 3-1 win over Mozambique in an exciting opening game at Cape Town Stadium on 11 January 2014.

It was another wild ride down The Dusi this year, with winners Andy Birkett and Sbonelo Zondi delighted with their performance. It was Birkett's 10th marathon, earning him his green number. The rapids, the heat, the uphill portages and the unpredictable water levels combine to make the Dusi Canoe Marathon one of the toughest endurance races in the country.

Some of the world's most extreme races are held in South Africa, where elite athletes – and ordinary people – pit themselves against the unforgiving elements and huge distances. Perhaps the most well-known is the Comrades Marathon, a gruelling 90km run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.