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News Update
Fake, social media Covid post ‘misleading’
The Health Department has dismissed social media reports of a new Covid-19 variant and asked the public to ignore the misleading message, saying the...
Nestlé to end sugar addition in baby products from year-end
Nestlé will end the practice of adding sugar to its baby food products by the end of the year, it has announced, after an...
SA could eliminate malaria by 2028 – Health Department
Despite recording about 9 800 cases last year, South Africa is on course to “eliminate” malaria by 2028 as outlined in the National Malaria...
Eastern Cape nurses demand better security after fatal robbery
A brutal robbery at a rural clinic in which a security guard died in a hail of bullets has enraged nursing unions in the...
Eastern Cape health official back in court over fraud charges
Eastern Cape Health Department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo, who is out on R30 000 bail after his arrest by the Hawks last week for fraud,...
HIV diagnosis after dodgy ‘vampire facials’
Three American women who were diagnosed with HIV after undergoing “vampire facials” at an unregistered New Mexico medical spa are believed to be the...
Worldwide measles cases almost double in a year
Measles cases nearly doubled globally between 2022 and 2023, researchers say, with 321 582 cases worldwide last year, an 88% increase from the previous...
California nurses protest ‘untested’ AI tools
Union nurses in the US are rallying against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools which they described as “untested” and “unregulated” during a...
No live bird flu virus in US milk – FDA
US regulators despite an outbreak of bird flu virus among dairy cows, no live virus had been detected in the first batch of retail...
US delays ban on menthol cigarettes
In a decision that has been widely criticised, the US Government has put on hold its plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a move that...
SAMA issues apology for editorial
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has issued an apology for an opinion piece published in the SA Medical Journal by former editor Dr...
Concern as Health Department omits insulin pens from tender
Doctors have warned that some diabetes patients’ lives could be at risk because the National Department of Health failed to list life-saving premixed insulin...
FDA heart pump recall after link to deaths and injuries
A pair of heart devices linked to hundreds of injuries and at least 14 deaths has received the FDA’s most serious recall, the agency announced...
R2.4bn needed to fill 2 012 vacant posts – Phaahla
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says there are 2 012 unfunded vacant posts of medical doctors countrywide – this does not include other categories...
Suspended Tembisa Hospital boss dies
Ashley Mthunzi, the suspended former CEO of Tembisa Hospital, where almost 800 babies have died in three years and which is referred to by...
First combined heart pump and pig kidney transplant
The first transplant surgery to combine a mechanical heart pump as well as a gene-edited pig kidney has been performed on an American woman.
Lisa...
Aspen ready to help shrink global shortage of weight-loss drugs
Aspen, Africa’s largest pharmaceutical company, could potentially help ease a growing shortage of the world’s hot-selling obesity medications, said CEO Stephen Saad recently, even...
Daily dice with death for Bay EMS staff
Public and private EMS workers in Nelson Mandela Bay are increasingly being targeted by criminals, frequently held up, hijacked, robbed, shot at and pistol-whipped...
Provincial Health Department corruption rife
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said provincial Health Departments have recorded 47 corruption cases since January 2023, involving every province except North West.
Replying to parliamentary...
Doctor implicated in murder of ex-wife
A Gauteng doctor allegedly paid a hitman and his driver R35 000 to gun down his ex-wife – a high school teacher – a...
New orthopaedic unit for Red Cross Children’s Hospital
A state-of-the-art new orthopaedic unit will benefit more than 1 400 clubfoot patients, conduct 1 000 surgeries annually, and provide care for more than...
Toxic cough syrup now unavailable in Africa – WHO
The contaminated batch of Benylin paediatric syrup that recently triggered a product withdrawal on the continent is no longer available in African countries, the...
WHO flags 'extraordinarily high' bird flu mortality rate in humans
The World Health Organisation says it is concerned about the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which has an “extraordinarily high” mortality rate in humans, and...
Popular pastor pushes malaria vax conspiracy theories
One of Africa’s best known evangelical preachers, Nigeria’s Chris Oyakhilome, is spreading the message, through sermons on his church’s YouTube channel, that malaria vaccines...
PM to crack down on ‘sick note’ culture in UK
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be cracking down on what he describes as a “sick note culture”, after pointing out that 94% of...
Eastern Cape nurse guilty of birth certificate fraud
An Eastern Cape nurse has been sentenced to either four years’ imprisonment or a R20 000 fine after registering the birth of fictitious twins so someone...
Lights back on at Johannesburg hospitals after two-day outage
Electricity was restored to the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital on Tuesday, two days after a power failure at a CBD substation that provides power to...
WHO prequalifies new oral cholera vaccine
The World Health Organisation has prequalified a new oral vaccine for cholera, the inactivated Euvichol-S having a similar efficacy to existing vaccines but being...
Swedish legal gender-change age now 16
After six hours of deliberation, Sweden’s Parliament has passed a law lowering the minimum age to legally change gender from 18 to 16 and...
Top job for disgraced former hospital CEO
Former Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital CEO Dr Nozuko Mkabayi, slammed by former Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba for her appalling performance during her...
Probe into Bara’s AWOL high-flying plastic surgeon
Gauteng Health has launched an investigation into plastic surgeon Dr Brian Monaisa, who has been accused by his peers of skipping work for months...
No link between suicide and weight loss drugs – EMA
Evidence does not support a causal association between the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) – dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, lixisenatide and semaglutide – and suicidal...
Non-payment closes theatres in Gauteng hospital
A frustrated supplier, fed-up with delayed payment from Leratong Hospital in Mogale City, Johannesburg, for replacement of an air conditioning system, has “soft-locked” a...
Failing SA mortuaries ‘smell like 10 dead cows'
Inadequate infrastructure and maintenance at government mortuaries, many of which have failed to meet inspection standards, highlight the grim conditions under which staff conduct...
Millions spent paying Cuban doctors ‘justified’ – medical association
The R14m spent on salaries for 11 Cuban doctors in Gauteng is not unreasonable, according to Kgosietsile Letlape, president of the Africa Medical Association,...
KZN Health MEC sued for defamation
A defamation suit has been launched by Zululand mayor and traditional Zulu Prime Minister Thulasizwe Buthelezi against KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health Nomagugu Simelane, who...
RAF’s non-payment to health facility risks lives – DA
The Road Accident Fund’s failure to make payment to Hospicare is exacerbating the trauma of traffic accidents victims, because the entity now faces eviction...
Under-fire EMS staff plead for support, safer conditions
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers in Nelson Mandela Bay protested outside the city hall last week, calling for safer working conditions after numerous robberies...
WHO warning on deadly viral hepatitis
At least 3 500 lives are lost daily due to viral hepatitis infections, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, with...
Nestlé adds sugar to products sold in SA and poorer countries
Nestlé is under fire for ignoring international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases after campaigners found it has been adding sugar and honey...