News Update
Lack of clinical trials fuels doctors' reluctance to prescribe cannabis
July 3rd, 2019 High expectations among the UK public of the benefits of medicinal cannabis are being disappointed because doctors are unwilling to prescribe it in the knowledge that there is little evidence to stand up some of the claims. MSN reports that this is...
FDA recommends TB Alliance's MDR-TB treatment regimen
June 12th, 2019 Independent experts of a US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted in favour of the not-for-profit TB Alliance’s treatment for drug resistant tuberculosis, as a part of a three-drug combination regimen. Reuters Health reports that the...Drug pricing committee denies 'ambiguity' in its formula
The advisory body that guides the Health minister on medicine price increases says there is no ambiguity in the formula it applied, contrary to the view put out by the industry on Monday. Business Day reports that pharmaceutical manufacturers are...With NICD reporting two more listeriosis deaths, fatalities reach 193
Two more people have died from listeriosis in South Africa, raising the death toll to 193, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), says the Saturday Star. In its weekly update, the institute revealed that since 1...Interim results show affordable hepatitis C treatment to be safe
An affordable hepatitis C treatment has been shown to be safe and effective, with very high cure rates for patients including hard-to-treat cases, in interim clinical trial results that offer hope to the 71m people living with the disease worldwide,...Pakistan reports first known drug-resistant typhoid epidemic
The first known epidemic of drug-resistant typhoid is spreading in Pakistan, raising fears that more diseases worldwide are heading towards being untreatable. The typhoid superbug has infected at least 850 people since 2016. Experts fear it could...Tissue-destroying ulcer cases at epidemic proportions in Australia
A severe tissue-destroying ulcer once rare in Australia is rapidly spreading and is now at epidemic proportions in regions of Victoria, prompting infectious diseases experts to call for urgent research into how it is contracted and spread,...Prem babies born to HIV-positive mothers on the increase in SA
Deaths of premature babies born to HIV-positive mothers are on the increase in South Africa, reports the Cape Argus. According to University of Cape Town researcher at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Dr Nadia...SA drug manufacturers face significant regulator fees increases
Drug manufacturers will soon face a significant increase in the fees charged by South Africa’s new medicines regulator, as it moves to end an era in which firms enjoyed rates far below those levied in other countries, reports Business Day. "We...Unions combine to hobble North West Health over corruption
Powerful unions have pledged to combine their strengths and bring North West Health to a grinding halt, reports The Citizen. The reason is perceived corruption in the department, and to a large degree the organisations have shut down medical...Gauteng Health announces that it will pay doctors' overtime
Gauteng Health has announced that it will begin the process of paying overtime claims for hundreds of doctors in the province, The Citizen writes. This was after Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng health spokesperson, Jack Bloom, revealed that...Limpopo suspends NGO services over health worker non-payment outcry
Limpopo Health has suspended the services of at least 300 NGOs after an outcry over the non-payment of home-based care workers who were in the organisations' employ, reports News24. At the end of the 2017/18 financial year, the department...SAHRC acts on 'racist' Limpopo doctor
A Limpopo doctor accused of racially segregating his patients and staff, and charging different rates according to race, has released a general public apology, insisting he was not aware of what was going on. News24 reports that the apology comes...SAHRC investigates medical surgery over ethics breaches
A medical surgery in Mokopane, Limpopo, has come under fire from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for alleged racism, breaching a number of medical ethics codes. SAHRC provincial manager Victor Mavhidula is quoted in News24 as...UK doctors working 'unmanageable' hours — Royal College of GPs
GPs across Britain are working above safe levels because of relentless and unmanageable workloads, The Guardian reports leading doctors have warned. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said that family doctors were...