Weekly Roundup
GEMS pays out 91m claims amounting to R29.1bn in 2017
The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) paid out 91m claims for its 1.8m-strong membership base during 2017, amounting to a total value of more than R29.1bn. According to Dr Guni Goolab, principal officer of GEMS, the claims included 5.6m...Suspicions grow of other Japanese medical schools excluding women
Several years ago, Riko Miyauchi’s dream of becoming a doctor took her into the exam halls of one of Japan’s most prestigious medical schools. As a young woman, she knew her prospects were slim. Tokyo Medical University’s entrance exam was...Managing the abuse of Tramadol as a recreational drug in Africa
Tramadol is increasingly being used as a recreational drug across Central Africa writes Agnes Ebo’o, regional co-ordinator Central Africa, ENACT project, Institute of Security Studies (ISS) in a report on the Polity site. Ebo’o writes:...Merck's experimental Ebola vaccine used in Congo
Four new cases of Ebola virus have been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the health ministry said, as authorities prepare to deploy an experimental treatment. Reuters Africa reports that the latest confirmed cases near the town of...First British use of VEST technology in CAG patients
Vascular Graft Solutions has announced that John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, is the first centre in the UK to use its VEST technology to externally support vein grafts in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery. "After several decades in...Denosa threatens 'pyjama strike' over unpaid nursing uniform allowances
Nurses uniforms may soon be replaced by less conventional outfits such as pyjamas and traditional regalia. City Press reports that this was the warning issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) after six of the nine...Only one SA province has developed a HIV and TB plan
Almost a year after South Africa tasked provinces with developing HIV and TB plans, a Bhekisisa report says only the Free State has a finalised strategy. Every five years, South Africa develops a new national HIV and TB plan. The latest national...Durban fertility expert fathered at least 5 children he helped conceive
More than 40 years after his suicide, the shocking secret of pioneering Durban fertility expert Norman "Tony" Walker has emerged – he was himself the father of at least five of the hundreds of children he helped to conceive. According to a Sunday...Nigeria legislates to ban codeine in cough syrup
Nigeria has recalled 2.4m bottles of cough syrup containing codeine after national outrage earlier this year over endemic use of opioids. Reuters Africa reports that Nigeria imposed a ban on the production and import of codeine cough syrup earlier...WHO may promote bedaquiline after SA brokers deal with J&J
The World Health Organisation (WHO) could soon start promoting a new tuberculosis drug that is now more affordable after South Africa brokered a deal with a pharmaceutical company to slash the price by half. Devex reports that the WHO had previously...Junior doctors 'still being given the run-around' over registering
The national Health Department claims to have resolved the shambles with their online application system for community service doctors, but The Citizen reports, according to scores of doctors, this is far from true. The Junior Doctors Association of...HPCSA says it's working to stamp out internal corruption
Countering a wide range of allegations of corruption levelled at it by a whistle-blower, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said action was being taken by the organisation to stamp out graft. The Citizen quotes to HPCSA...Sasop campaign to expose abuse in SA's hospitals
In the aftermath of the Life Esidimeni tragedy in Gauteng and concerns raised about possible human rights violations at the Tower Hospital in the Eastern Cape, the South African Society of Psychiatrists (Sasop) has undertaken a campaign to encourage...UCT releases video on new transorbital surgery technique
Transorbital surgery is complex and dangerous with long recovery periods and high risk of complications. Now a team of South African surgeons have developed a surgical technique that’s changing lives. The University of Cape Town has released a...Fentanyl-class over-prescription puts US patients at high risk
A fast-acting class of fentanyl drugs approved only for cancer patients with high opioid tolerance has been prescribed frequently to patients with back pain and migraines, putting them at high risk of accidental overdose and death. The New York...