Creator
Mara Kardas-Nelson
Mara Kardas-Nelson is a journalist with the Mail & Guardian's Centre for Health Journalism, where she focuses on access to medicine, health policy, financing, and planning. She has been contributing to the Mail & Guardian since 2009, writing on a wide variety of topics ranging from the environment to development to local culture. In 2010 she shared a Mondi Shanduka Newspaper award with photographer Sam Reinders for their work on acid mine drainage in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. Her work has appeared in publications across Africa, North America, and Europe.
Sierra Leoneans: Surviving Ebola – only to face discrimination
Those who survived Ebola are stigmatised, often ostracised by their communities and denied healthcare.
Ebola survivors: “They think we still have the virus and won’t get close to us.”
Sierra Leoneans who survived the disease suffer long-term side effects and are in dire need of support, which in itself is becoming problematic.
Controversial Messina doctor’s medical licence revoked
Almost a year after the first complaints were filed with the HPCSA about Dr Dube, the Limpopo doctor’s medical licence has been stripped.
Gentlemen, let’s talk about HIV
Despite the stereotypes, there is a pressing need for men to play more of a role in HIV support.
US health policy weighs on SA’s HIV patients
Hundreds of thousands of HIV patients could be affected by Pepfar’s shift in funding policy, according to a new report.
Brazil and Thailand got it right – can SA really make NHI work?
Rwanda, too, has succeeded in doing what this country has only been talking about for 18 years..
Shift in mood towards HIV
A recent Cape Town AIDS conference showed a shift in the global mood on HIV.
NHI still has a way to go before the training wheels come off
Fixing healthcare needs a multidisciplinary approach, not just a medical focus.
Fresh woes for dodgy doctor
A new complaint has been filed against Limpopo doctor Allick Dube.
‘You can fight if you have support’
Two young women are proving to the world that the most deadly strain of TB can be beaten.
Hospital staff dismissed for striking against dodgy doctor
Four Messina Hospital staff members, who are also shop stewards for the union Nehawu, have been dismissed for inciting strike action against a doctor.
Brazil’s sick of patent exploitation
The country is fighting the intellectual property laws that hiked up the cost of its HIV programme.
Patient fees cripple Zim’s healthcare
Skewed state funding has left many centres dependent on fees that patients can’t afford, writes Mara Kardas-Nelson.
Nursing Zim prisons back to health
One man’s mission to bring sanitary sanity and dignity to those kept behind bars.
Battle on the horizon over intellectual property policy draft
Some have lauded the draft policy, saying it could make medication cheaper, but others say it is "unimpressive" and "almost contradictory".