South Africa
Claims data tracks SA's cancer explosion
Cancer causes more deaths in South Africa than HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined, with the average of cost of a cancer case up 17% to over R77,000 per annum, according to an analysis by Discovery Health Medical Scheme. The special...BHF research paints worrying picture of exiting doctors
Older public sector doctors are leaving to practice privately but are not staying too long, instead opting out of medicine entirely before the age of 50, according to research by the Board of Healthcare Funders of SA. The latest research is...Drug prices, not patients, fuelling cost spiral — Mediscor review
The annual Mediscor review says that growing expenditure on medicines is largely driven by higher prices, not because people are sicker and using more products, reports Business Day . The Mediscor review, an authoritative medical benefit...Survey finds large number of doctors considering leaving SA
A survey by the union Solidarity’s Research Institute found that more than 80% of healthcare practitioners believe that the government’s planned National Health Insurance scheme will lead to a massive exodus of professionals from the country,...SA med students vow not to return to Russian ‘sangoma hut’
A group of 53 medical students from Mpumalanga being funded by the provincial government to study in Russia have vowed not to return to Astrakhan State University, claiming it was like a "sangoma's hut". According to a Sowetan report, the 53...Substantial number of community service doctors still unemployed — SAMA
At a time when South Africa's hospitals are faced with critical staff shortages which impacts on the health-care system, some intern and community service doctors remain unemployed. According to a Weekend Argus report, South African Medical...Wits team claims breakthrough in Alzheimer's research
A breakthrough by a team of researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) could see patients with Alzheimer’s using a nasal spray to slow down the progression of the disease, the main cause of dementia, reports The Citizen. Until...Med schemes want Health Dept to reject drug price increases
Medical schemes have appealed to the national Health Department to reject pharmaceutical manufacturers’ request for an extra price increase for medicines, arguing they are already taking strain from 2018’s VAT increase. Business Day reports...NHI: Leave it to me, Ramaphosa tells SA's healthcare leaders
President Cyril Ramaphosa has told helalthcare industry leaders that he would personally be overseeing the implementation of the National Health Insurance scheme and that it could and would succeed, writes MedicalBrief. All South Africans will...IRR calls on South Africans to oppose NHI
The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has invited South Africans to endorse a submission opposing the National Health Insurance (NHI). The IRR says: “All South Africans are entitled to decent levels of healthcare, but new proposals by the...In 7 years, Discovery cancer diagnoses increase 45%
Cancer diagnoses among Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) members – the country’s largest medical insurance scheme – increased by 45% between 2011 and 2017, says a Business Insider report. A survey of its healthcare claims found that in...Motsoaledi: Criminals are clogging SA's mental health system
Criminals were putting extreme pressure on the already strained mental-health system in South Africa. The Times reports that this is according to Minister of Health‚ Aaron Motsoaledi‚ who is quoted as saying: “We have 1,400 criminals...SA's medicines regulator hobbled by protestor shutdown
Picketing protestors are preventing pharmaceutical companies from lodging submissions for the registration of medicines and special permits that allow critically ill patients to be treated with unregistered products in an emergency, to the SA...Contraceptive roulette at SA's state clinics
State clinics and healthcare facilities around South Africa continue to experience a shortage of injectable contraceptives, despite the Health Department claiming it had “enough” stock. According to a Sunday Independent report, women who relied...Parliamentary committee appalled by KZN Health 'disaster' clinic
Parliament’s portfolio committee on health says it is appalled by conditions at a clinic in Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal which it described as a “disaster” that does not qualify to be called a clinic. The Times reports the committee conducted an...