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Saturday, 27 July, 2024

FOCUS: HIV/AIDS

HIV-prevention jab roll-out a game-changer for SA

Venilla Yoganathan - 0
South Africa's HIV infection rates could be slashed significantly when the twice-a-month HIV vaccine, among new treatments offering hope in reducing the massive global burden of HIV, is rolled out by the end of the year. Health experts and world leaders at the International Aids Conference in Germany in the past week, marked significant advancements in the treatment of the disease – which has infected nearly 89m people worldwide – and killed about 42.3m, notes MedicalBrief. It comes as a seventh...
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NEWS UPDATE

Hard-hitting court ruling against 'certificate of need' plan

The High Court has delivered a damning ruling against the controversial Certificate of Need (CON) scheme for doctors and private hospitals, and has struck out sections of the National Health Act, saying they were "unconstitutional". Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) judge Anthony Millar, in his ruling, stymied government attempts to force...

SAHPRA clarifies B-BBEE policy

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has rejected what it calls a misinformation campaign related to its draft B-BBEE Policy, which it says is a result of a “robust consultation process with all material stakeholders”. MedicalBrief reports that in a statement on its website, the regulator said the...

Healthcare systems hit hard by global Microsoft outage

Doctors, nurses and hospital administrators around the globe were going into panic mode last week as they raced to manage the consequences of the largest IT outage in history. MedicalBrief notes that while the Microsoft outage, believed to be caused by a software update and which affected computers worldwide, had...

Call to resolve acting CEO crisis in KZN hospitals

KZN provincial hospitals are having a leadership crisis and intervention is urgently needed, according to the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA), which has challenged the government to deal with the issue as a matter of priority. At least eight hospitals have acting CEOs, and in a statement this...

Business group upbeat after Ramaphosa’s NHI comments

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) is encouraged by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent promises to “resolve differences” and “bring stakeholders together” on the thorny NHI issue, and now plans to set up a meeting with Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi. The business lobby group was responding to Ramaphosa’s address at the...

Medical student in hot water over ‘genocide’ post

A Stellenbosch University medical student and qualified paramedic is being investigated by the university’s Equality Unit after using his X account to allegedly “incite violence” and make “genocidal” remarks about Palestinians by apparently calling for a nuclear weapon to remove them from Gaza. Barry Barling’s post was followed by outrage...

Private labs help NHLS through cyber crisis

The chaos caused by last month’s cyber attack has led to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) having to rely on the private sector for help with emergency lab tests while its IT systems are still being restored. The intrusion has been blamed on the BlackSuit hacking group, a private...

Primary school pupil tests negative for mpox

The Health Department has confirmed that a grade 1 pupil from Hammanskraal – initially said to have contracted mpox – has tested negative for the viral disease, after the Education Department in Gauteng had issued a statement last week saying she had been hospitalised with symptoms. Gauteng Education MEC Matome...

Health costs force TB patients deeper into poverty

More than half of South Africa’s tuberculosis patients are struggling to cope with the costs related to their illnesses, with thousands of them sinking ever deeper into poverty, according to new research commissioned by the National Department of Health (NDoH). The findings show that financial barriers that impede their ability...

No treatment for most people with neurological issues – WHO report

Nearly half of the world’s population suffers from some form of neurological condition ranging from simple migraines to Alzheimer’s, and yet in low-income countries, more than 75% of those needing treatment cannot access care, according to a World Health Organisation report released on Tuesday (World Brain Day). The treatment gap...

‘Teflon flu’ sending Americans to hospital

Toxic fumes from burning non-stick frying pans sent a record number of Americans to hospital last year, with data showing that more than 250 patients were admitted with the little known condition dubbed “Teflon-flu”, which causes fever, body aches and chills. Researchers at the US Poison Centres said the condition...

New Zealand state care abused 200 000 children, vulnerable adults, inquiry finds

The New Zealand Government has apologised after a public inquiry revealed that around 200 000 children, young people and vulnerable adults had been abused in state and religious care over the past 70 years – many of them subjected to rape, sterilisations and electric shock therapy. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon...

Tuskegee ‘syphilis study’ whistle-blower dies

American Peter Buxtun, the whistle-blower who revealed that the US Government allowed hundreds of black men in rural Alabama to go untreated for syphilis in what became known as the Tuskegee study, has died, aged 86. Buxtun, who died on 18 May of Alzheimer’s disease in California, is revered as...

Eastern Cape doctor killed in crash

Well-known Gqeberha doctor Lungisa Excel Nojoko died in a head-on collision last Sunday morning, when his bakkie collided with a car carrying three people, all of whom also died. Nojoko, who had a private surgery in KwaDwesi, Nelson Mandela Bay, was described by provincial health spokesperson Siyanda Manana as “a...

Gauteng Health event targets improved primary healthcare

A two-day summit was recently hosted by the Gauteng Department of Health at which various experts shared ideas on how best to reconfigure service delivery models to optimise primary and district healthcare services, and the need to embrace more digital technology. IOL reports that the District Health System (DHS) strategy...

WHO flags polio virus in Gaza sewage water samples

Variant type 2 poliovirus (VDPV) has been isolated from six environmental (sewage) samples in the Gaza Strip, according to the WHO. The strains – collected from two different collection sites in the southern city of Khan Younis as well as Deir al Balah, further north – are genetically linked to each...

MEDICO-LEGAL

Gauteng Health to fork out R1m for botched knee surgery

Gauteng’s Department of Health is mired in a sea of negligence claims, having paid out R623m for the first nine months of the 2023/24 financial year, and in the latest case, having to cough up more than R1m to an elderly woman after a botched knee surgery more than...

Gauteng Health accuses Cancer Alliance of interference as case postponed

The Gauteng Health Department has hit back, in court papers, against claims that it has failed to spend millions of rands of cancer funding, saying the application was factually wrong, and accusing the applicants of interference. The Cancer Alliance’s case against the Gauteng Health Department, which was due to be...

Wrong heart monitor data leads to unnecessary surgery for woman

A US woman is suing a medical device manufacturer, alleging her heart monitor provided her doctors with data from a different patient, leading to an unnecessary, extremely painful and traumatic surgery. In her lawsuit, Andrea Irwin, a 33-year-old mother of two who is suing ZOLL Laboratory Services and ZOLL Medical...

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

COVID-19

First trimester Covid exposure, jab, not tied to birth defects risk

Neither Covid-19 infection nor vaccination during the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with increased risk of major birth defects, found a study of nearly 345 000 babies by Scandinavian scientists. While it’s well known that women who experience Covid-19 infection during pregnancy are at increased risk of severe illness...

DERMATOLOGY

Psoriasis added to list of air-pollution-linked diseases

Previous studies have tied air pollution exposure to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, even autism and obesity – and recent research has now identified a link between new-onset psoriasis and exposure to four major pollutants in Britain. The Chinese researchers also suggested that having high degrees of genetic risk (as...

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Daily antibiotic wards off STIs – Canadian study

Scientists from Vancouver say their recent small study suggests a daily dose of a common antibiotic may prevent some infections with syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia, and offer a new solution to the growing global crisis of sexually transmitted infections. Their study, presented at the International Aids Society conference in Munich...

ONCOLOGY

Aspirin may lower colorectal cancer death risk – Italian study

A growing body of evidence has shown that people who regularly take aspirin have a lower risk for colorectal cancer (CRC) and are less likely to die if they do develop the disease. The evidence surrounding aspirin and CRC is so intriguing that more than 70 000 people are currently...

Gene may be key to treating pancreatic cancer – UK study

Scientists may have pinpointed a gene they suggest could could be key to taming one of the world’s deadliest cancers – giving fresh hope to more effective treatments for a disease that has the lowest survival rate of all 20 common cancers. Led by British scientists, but with collaboration from...

TOXICOLOGY

Common blood thinner could treat cobra venom – global study

A commonly used blood thinner can be used as an antidote to cobra venom, an international study has suggested, research that experts have described as “really exciting” and which could help save lives. Snakebite is considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organisation, and although antibody-based anti-venoms exist,...

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

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