back to top
Twitter
Thursday, 7 November, 2024

FOCUS: PUBLIC HEALTH

Health Department eyes PIC trillions for hospital infrastructure

Venilla Yoganathan - 0
The Health Department and national Treasury are in talks to dig into South Africa’s R2.7trn savings pool held by the Public Investment Corporation for the upgrading of public health infrastructure. This follows Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s recent Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in which no adjustments had been made for the health sector, despite the country preparing for the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI). Cautioning that tax collection for the 2024/25 financial year was expected to be lower than estimated...
Read more

NEWS UPDATE

More suspected poisonings after death of 10-year-old girl

A 10-year-old girl died and her four-year-old sibling and mother are in a critical condition in Edenvale Hospital, Gauteng, after another case of suspected food poisoning over the weekend, while in KZN last week, 11 pupils were taken to a clinic after eating lollipops that apparently made them sick. In the Gauteng case, investigators and health experts are probing allegations concerning the food eaten by the family before they fell ill, reports TimesLIVE. Police Commissioner Lt-General Tommy Mthombeni urged the public not to speculate about the cause and to allow investigators to do their work. In a community alert circulated on social...

Nineteen-day wait for emergency op in KwaZulu-Natal hospital

The plight of a Northern KwaZulu-Natal man who fell through a roof and broke his femur echoes the stories of thousands of patients who depend on the services of ill-equipped state hospitals, a crisis which a leading health expert partly blames on political appointments and “substantial corruption” in the public health sector. It also calls into question the viability of the National Health Insurance (NHI), they say. Mail & Guardian reports that Bruce Wilson (54) was initially admitted to Hlabisa Hospital after waiting four hours for an ambulance after the accident on 4 October. “When we got there he needed an X-ray,...

Gugulethu locals fed-up with waiting for new hospital

Residents in Gugulethu are demanding that the Western Cape Department of Health expedite plans to build a new hospital in the area, accusing it of dragging its heels despite the urgent need for the facility. Taking to the streets earlier this week, the marchers said they wanted to know when construction of the hospital would start, saying the KTC Community Health Centre, currently the only one in the area, was in a shocking state, with poor service. They told GroundUp it was often dirty, frequently had stockouts, had insufficient parking, and was not wheelchair-friendly. The Movement for Change and Social Justice,...

FDA approves new oral drug for UTIs, despite concerns

A new oral antibiotic has cracked the nod from the FDA for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections, despite the agency’s reviewers voicing ongoing concerns – before an Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee meeting last month – about the benefits versus the risks of the treatment, including its potential for inappropriate use. FDA advisers echoed these concerns, reports Medpage Today. Nevertheless, approval has been granted for oral sulopenem etzadroxil and probenecid (Orlynvah) to treat uncomplicated UTIs caused by certain bacteria in women with limited or no alternative oral antibacterial treatment options, the agency said last week. The drug is a combination of a...

Baby powder recalled after suspected asbestos link

Another baby powder in the US has made the news after the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced an expanded recall of a range of products potentially tainted with asbestos. The FDA notes that the latest recall involves additional cases of Dynacare baby powder, shipped to 35 states and sold online on Amazon. CBS reports that last Monday, New Jersey-based Dynarex said it was expanding a recall first announced in September to include another 1 020 cases of the baby powder because the items could be contaminated with asbestos. Both talc and asbestos are naturally occurring minerals that may be found in...

DRC fights mpox-measles co-infections

Africa’s mpox situation is being complicated by measles co-infections in children in two Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provinces, say officials from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), who are buoyed, however, by the increase in mpox testing rates in the region. Ngashi Ngongo, MD, PhD, who leads Africa CDC’s mpox incident management team, said most of the co-infection cases were in children under 15 and that one of the reasons was low measles vaccination coverage. He said researchers are still trying to understand the interaction between measles and mpox. Signs of hope CIDRAP reports that there were...

WHO lists top endemic pathogens urgently needing new vaccines

A World Health Organisation (WHO) study published this week in The Lancet’s  eBioMedicine names 17 pathogens – that regularly cause diseases in communities – as top priorities for new vaccine development. The study is the first global effort to systematically prioritise endemic pathogens based on criteria that included regional disease burden, antimicrobial resistance risk and socioeconomic impact. The research reconfirms longstanding priorities for vaccine research and development (R&D), including for HIV, malaria, and TB, three diseases that collectively take nearly 2.5m lives each year. The study also identifies pathogens like Group A streptococcus and Klebsiella pneumoniae as top disease control priorities in all regions,...

Teens’ anxiety, depression, rises after four hours’ screen time, say experts

Teenagers who spend four or more hours in front of the screen each day are more likely to experience anxiety and depression, according to a new report from the US National Centre for Health Statistics. The findings showed that 50% of teenagers aged 12 to 17 had four hours or more of daily screen time between July 2021 and December 2023; 22.8% had three hours, 17.8% had two hours, 6.1% had one hour, and only 3% had less than an hour. For the brief, the youngsters reported their own screen time use during a typical weekday, excluding time spent doing schoolwork, the authors noted. During the...

UK identifies first cases of imported clade 1b mpox

After identifying the first case of the new mpox variant clade Ib in the UK last week, authorities have now detected another two cases in household contacts of the original patient, according to the Health Security Agency (UKHSA), bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three. The government agency said the risk to the population remained low, reports Reuters. UKHSA said last week that the first case, in a patient who had recently travelled to affected countries in Africa, had been detected in London and the individual had been transferred to a specialist hospital. The two new patients are also under...

Triplets becoming less common in the US

Giving birth to triplets, quadruplets or even more has become increasingly less common in the United States, the decline being particularly noticeable in mothers 30 and over, according to a recent report. The publication, released last week by the US Centres for Disease Control & Prevention, (CDC) shows that the rate of triplet and higher-order births in the country dropped by 62% between 1998 and 2023, reports CNN. This decline appears to be associated with how guidance has strengthened around the number of embryos transferred during the use of assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilisation (IVF), wrote the researchers, from...

Health bus on fire with 52 patients onboard

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has launched an investigation after a patient transport vehicle caught fire on Monday while transporting 52 patients along the N3 outside Pietermaritzburg. All of them were safely evacuated, reports News24, and taken to Grey’s Hospital via three alternative 22-seater buses. Department spokesperson Nathi Oliphant said the patients were being transported from the uThukela Emergency Medical Rescue base, and that an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the blaze. “This was an isolated incident, and our EMS patient transport buses remain among the safest, staffed by highly trained personnel,” he added. Previous crashes A fortnight previously, two...

AstraZeneca China operations boss under investigation

AstraZeneca says its China operations president Leon Wang is under investigation but has not clarified whether he is being detained or what the probe is about. The Anglo-Swedish compan said the Chinese operations were currently “under the leadership of the general manager of AstraZeneca China”, without providing further details, reports Reuters. The company has invested heavily in China, which is the second largest pharmaceuticals market in the world. Wang, who grew up in China and has been with AstraZeneca for more than a decade, is a high-profile executive who has often been quoted by China’s business press and holds leadership positions in...

MEDICO-LEGAL

Tiger Brands in talks to pay urgent listeriosis medical bills

Although there is still no trial date on the horizon, in a major development on the listerioris saga, Tiger Brands is talking to the attorneys of more than 1 000 victims as it seeks to agree on relief for those who have urgent medical needs. The company said this is despite liability having not yet been determined, and while it is also “engaging on measures to arrive at a speedier resolution of the class action overall”. News24 reports that it did not disclose what amounts were involved. In its statement, Tiger Brands also noted that it had “product liability insurance cover appropriate...

Court injunction stops Canadian woman’s scheduled euthanasia

A Canadian woman – who had scheduled an assisted suicide for 27 October – had her plan blocked when a British Columbian judge issued a rare, last-minute injunction barring her from the procedure, after physicians in her home province refused to approve the request. The injunction, granted to the woman’s common law partner, blocks Vancouver physician Ellen Wiebe, or any other medical professional, from “causing the death” of the woman within the next 30 days, The Guardian reports. The court order comes amid a fractious debate in the country over the expansion of medical assistance in dying, or Maid. Last week,...

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

ENDOCRINOLOGY

Bariatric surgery benefits confirmed in 10-year follow-up study

Ten years after undergoing bariatric surgery as teens, more than half of study participants demonstrated not only sustained weight loss, but also resolution of obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, according to researchers. “Our study presents impressive outcomes of the longest follow-up of weight...

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Have scientists found a drug as good as a 10km run?

Danish researchers recently announced a drug called LaKe which “brings the body into a metabolic state corresponding to running 10km at high speed on an empty stomach”. But sceptics have questioned whether a pill can really mimic the beneficial effects of exercise, and make going to the gym unnecessary, reports...

HIV

SA women could have three-monthly anti-HIV ring by 2026

A flexible silicone ring that slowly releases antiretrovirals is one of just two long-acting HIV prevention products registered for use in South Africa, but now, results from a new study might pave the way for a longer-acting version of the vaginal ring that provides three months of protection at...

NEUROLOGY

Autism diagnosis rates triple in past decade – US cross-sectional study

Autism diagnosis rates are skyrocketing in the US, say experts, having nearly tripled between 2011 and 2022 during which time it climbed by a massive 175%, according to recent findings. The improvement and expansion of universal developmental screening probably accounts for some of that increase found in their study, according...

ONCOLOGY

Early morning, evening activity could cut bowel cancer risk – German study

Being more active in the morning and evening may reduce the risk of bowel cancer by 11%, according to a study that suggests the timing of peak activity could play a crucial role in warding off the disease. Researchers said that highlighting specific times when physical activity was “most beneficial”...

SURGERY

Elective ops too soon after heart attack risky for seniors – US study

After a heart attack, ageing adults face double or triple the risk of life-threatening complications – like a debilitating stroke or another heart attack – if they have elective non-cardiac surgeries too soon, say scientists, who suggest at least a three- to six-month wait. After researching the Medicare database of...

TRANSPLANT MEDICINE

Large study identifies new kidney transplant rejection indicators

Medical scientists involved in a large international study have identified new signs of kidney transplant rejection that could lead to more precise diagnosis and treatment for transplant recipients, they said. The research examined more than 16 000 kidney transplant biopsies and found that certain results previously thought to be of...

ABOUT US

MedicalBrief is Africa’s authoritative weekly digest of medical matters, both on the continent and around the world. It brings you a succinct summary of the latest developments, both in news and research, with links to the original material. Contact us: info@medicalbrief.co.za

QUICK LINKS