FOCUS: NHI
NHI Bill vote delayed as doctors and business urge amendments
A crucial vote on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill was postponed yesterday, bringing relief to business groups and health professionals who had urged the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) not to pass the Bill in its present form, writes MedicalBrief.
The NCOP was to have voted on the Bill yesterday, following the NCOP’s Select Committee on Health and Social Services last week approving it without any amendments. But The Citizen reports that the matter has since been deferred to...
FOCUS: INFECTIOUS DISEASES
60m children who missed jabs in pandemic now at risk of killer diseases
Large outbreaks of diseases that mainly kill children are spreading around the world, a grim legacy of disruptions to health systems during the Covid-19 pandemic that have left more than 60m children without a single dose of standard childhood vaccines.
By June this year, 47 countries were reporting serious measles outbreaks, compared with 16 countries in June 2020. Nigeria is facing the largest diphtheria outbreak in its history, with more than 17 000 suspected cases and nearly 600 deaths so...