Cannabis legislation for private and medicinal use has increased over the past few years globally, including in several African countries for medicinal use as well as farming for profit. Currently, South Africa is the only country in Africa that has legalized the recreational use of cannabis, with the signing into law of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act by President Ramaphosa on 28th May 2024, which was preceded by an earlier ruling of the Constitutional Court of South Africa in September 2018 which found the criminalization of home use and cultivation of cannabis for personal use by adults unconstitutional.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the new technologies that are modelled to transform global health. Various AI technologies have appealed to political and public interest as this field continues to grow and is already irreversibly transforming health through some radical innovations.
On 18 March 2025, the South African Medical Research Council’s Burden of Disease Research Unit (BODRU) and Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance Use and Tobacco Research Unit (MAST-RU) hosted a briefing on the Alcohol Diagnostic Validation for Injury-Related Trauma (AVIRT) study at the Medicina campus in Cape Town. The study forms part of a collaboration with The George Institute for Global Health UK and the University of Cape Town and took place in the form of a hybrid seminar.
African traditional medicines (ATMs) have been a cornerstone of healthcare for centuries, yet they remain underappreciated and underutilised in modern health systems. With the challenges facing mainstream healthcare in South Africa and across the continent, there is an urgent need to recognise the potential of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) not only to improve health outcomes but also to boost the economy.
Cuts to United States funding of health research could have “catastrophic” consequences, says Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, who is at the helm of the country’s primary health research funder. He says the South African Medical Research Council is “heavily exposed” to the cuts, with around 28% of its budget coming from US federal agencies.