South Africa
SA's 'sobering' HIV drug-resistance figures
March 13th, 2019 One in six people not on treatment in a large South African household survey already had drug-resistant HIV and more than half of those on treatment had resistance to at least one drug, researchers from the Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria,...Life Healthcare diversifying to counter global regulatory pressures
Private hospital group Life Healthcare is pressing ahead with its strategy of diversifying out of its traditional hospital base, in a bid to counter global trends of increasing regulatory constraints and pricing pressures, says CEO Shrey Viranna in...Doctors and medical schemes clash over blame for fraud
Doctors and medical schemes clashed in discussions during the Council of Medical Schemes’ inaugural Fraud, Waste and Abuse Summit, which was boycotted by the Hospital Association of SA. Medical doctors have hit back against the commonly held...Health Department disowns instruction on turning away foreigners
South Africa's national Health Department has withdrawn its instruction to provinces to charge foreign patients the maximum rate, saying the directive should never have been issued, reports Business Day. Provincial health departments received a...Fresh fraud allegations against suspended CMS investigations head
The suspended head of investigations at the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) is facing new allegations that he facilitated the curatorship of a municipal workers medical scheme to further his own interests, reports Business Day. Stephen Mmatli, who...R300m for Life Esidimeni families
A sum of R300m has been set aside for families affected by the Life Esidimeni tragedy who pass a verification process by the Master of the High Court, reports News24. The money is to be made available through the Gauteng premier's office. The...SA's ARV deal delivers cutting-edge Tx at a fraction of world price
South Africa’s recently awarded antiretroviral (ARV) tender, worth around R14bn over three years, is probably the biggest change since the single once daily tablet for HIV was introduced and, remarkably, SA will be getting the best drug...Debacle over Chinese medical 'qualifications' of SA students
The Free State government, which funded 44 medical students to train in China, tried to work around the Health Professions Council of SA refusal to recognise their qualifications by moving them to Russia. But now Russia is insisting that the...Motsoaledi: Arrests expected on fake medical negligence claims
A group of lawyers has been milking the state of millions of rands in alleged fake medical negligence claims for cerebral palsy cases. News24 reports that this is according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi at a briefing with Justice Minister...SA set to carry warning labels on 'junk food'
Packaged food that is high in salt, sugar and fat may soon have to carry warning labels, according to a top health official. “We hope to introduce regulations about front-of-pack warning labels by late this year or early next year,” said Lynn...Education Department accuses MSF of ‘skulduggery’
The SA Department of Basic Education has denied claims by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) that the rollout of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for secondary school pupils is on hold, slamming a ‘disingenuous’ MSF for its...CMS decision to allow Discovery Insurance's medical aid product challenged
The Board of Healthcare Funders is 'unhappy' over the decision of the Council for Medical Schemes to allow Discovery Life to offer medical aid products under its life assurance business, allegedly gaining an unfair advantage over...Eskom load shedding limiting Gauteng surgery schedules — DA
Gauteng hospitals and clinics have been hit by Eskom’s load shedding in the past week, with some generators failing and operations being cancelled as full functions cannot take place even with generator power, the Democratic Alliance is quoted in...Motsoaledi says he is 'highly distressed' over unpaid junior doctors
Health Minister DR Aaron Motsoaledi says in an Eyewitness News report that he is disappointed and highly distressed that some interns and doctors who started work in last month have still not received their January salaries. The report says the...Confusion over Ramaphosa's NHI remarks in his SONA address
President Cyril Ramaphosa created confusion with a remark about the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) during his State of the Nation address, health experts are quoted in The Times as saying. The report says those surveyed said his comments...