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Medical community at a crossroads on child gender-affirming care
The release of a major review of gender identity services for children has sparked debate about the best approach to providing care for young...
Government open to more talks and 'collaboration' on NHI
After taking many by surprise with the signing of the NHI Bill last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa and government Ministers adopted a more placatory...
NHI Bill signing sets stage for protracted battle in courts
A flood of legal suits is set to follow the signing of the NHI Bill yesterday, and are almost certain to hold up the...
Can Big Pharma justify hefty drug prices?
Big Pharma's hefty price tags for some medicines have again come under scrutiny, with a drug developed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) costing a...
SA and J&J drawn into toxic cough mixture scandal
South Africa and J&J has become entangled in one of the world's worst wave of poisoning from oral medication with the recall of a...
Cancer diagnoses among younger people rising
Worldwide, cancer diagnoses are growing more common among people under 50, and it’s been estimated that by 2030, the number of these early-onset cancer...
Communities mourn murdered medics
The medical fraternity has been hit with more tragedy with the unrelated murders of two healthcare workers this week; a Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal paediatrician, Dr...
Fiscal reason versus NHI fundamentalism
There are “irreconcilable messages” within the ANC government over National Health Insurance (NHI), writes Financial Mail editor Rob Rose. So the legislative tweaks proposed...
WHO's second malaria vaccine will save millions of lives
An inexpensive malaria vaccine that can be produced on a massive scale has been recommended for use by the World Health Organization (WHO), with...
Eastern Cape Health boss under fire in 'political clean-out'
Eastern Cape director-general for Health, Dr Rolene Wagner, who has eliminated R1bn in previous unauthorised expenditure and saved billions more in crippling provincial medico-legal...
Auditor-General flags ballooning medico-legal claims
Medico-legal claims against the national Department of Health have soared to an 'unsustainable R125bn', the Auditor-General has warned, saying despite all measures taken to...
J&J probed for high TB drug prices and patent law 'abuse'
Just weeks after Johnson & Johnson, among other pharmaceutical giants, was exposed for charging South Africa 15% more than what it charged the European...
Proposed budget cuts disastrous for health sector, activists warn
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana ruffled feathers last week with his letter to government departments directing a freeze on posts and other cost-cutting measures. MedicalBrief...
NHI may not be best solution, Finance Minister says
With Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana expressing frank scepticism about the sustainability of the National Health Insurance (NHI), a new survey has shown that the...
GPs allege ‘corporate bullying’ after Medicross contract switch
Medicross has denied accusations of “corporate bullying”, after about 50 private GPs – who ended their practice administration contracts with Medicross to join a...
SA 'bullied, held to ransom' and paid double for Covid vaccines
To procure Covid-19 vaccines for South Africans, government was bullied and forced to pay exorbitant amounts – in some cases double the price –...
Mediclinic's alleged irregular billing sparks forensic probes
A whistle-blower’s allegations – that six Mediclinic hospitals are guilty of irregular billing practices – have opened a can of worms, with forensic investigations...
Scientists keep close eye on highly mutated coronavirus variant
Virologists and health officials worldwide are keeping an eye on a highly mutated form of the coronavirus that may be the most adept yet...
HPCSA persists in enforcing regulations declared ‘unlawful’
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) continues to punish doctors with hefty fines for contravening regulations which were found to be unlawful...
Osteoarthritis to affect 1bn people by 2050, predicts global study
Researchers have estimated that by 2050, osteoarthritis – which affects 15% of the global population over 30 – will have affected nearly 1bn people,...
Call for overhaul of junior doctors' training
The existing cumbersome and sometimes inefficient system of training, internships and community service needs to be revamped, streamlined and improved, a group of local...
Dickason guilty of murders as jury rejects post-partum depression defence
South African doctor Lauren Dickason was yesterday found guilty of murdering her three children in New Zealand in a trial that made headlines around...
BHF back in court over 'irrational' blocking of low-cost medical options
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) says the Health Minister should face possible jail time for defying a July court order to produce documents...
Experts call for comprehensive, large-scale response to slash Africa's cancer burden
Cancer mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa – one of the top three causes of premature deaths in most countries in the region – are...
'Colossal impact' fears as US anti-abortion lobby threatens to kill Pepfar
A decades-old US-funded global Aids programme that supports South Africa’s health sector, as well as that of 38 other African countries with billions of...
Violent attacks prompt special training for Gauteng healthcare staff
Violence against staff – doctors, nurses, paramedics – and patients, has become an occupational hazard at government hospitals and clinics in South Africa. After...
Race factor skews new Alzheimer's drugs trial
Two much-hyped new treatments for Alzheimer’s that work by removing a toxic protein called beta amyloid from the brain may benefit whites more than...
Doctors' petition urges NCOP to reject NHI Bill
Doctors have lodged a last-ditch effort to stop the passing of the National Health Insurance Bill, which has been given the green light by...
Low-cost schemes will soften NHI tax burden, argue medical schemes
Medical schemes, feeling the pinch with decreasing membership and bracing for radical upheaval when the National Health Insurance (NHI) kicks in, argue that the...
Doctor who killed children diagnosed with post-partum depression, court hears
Post-partum depression was under the spotlight this week when High Court proceedings in New Zealand began unravelling the circumstances leading to the tragic deaths...
Court slaps CMS with deadline to explain low-cost schemes hold-up
The Council for Medical Schemes, which has been accused of blocking the introduction of low-cost medical aids in an effort to make the NHI...
Germany eyes SA-trained nurses – with government's blessing
Government is in talks with Germany to employ SA-trained nurses to fill vacancies in Europe’s largest economy, while, at home, the shortage of nurses,...
SA in multi-million dollar trial for new TB vaccine
South Africa is among the countries which will take part in a $550m phase three clinical trial of M72, a new candidate vaccine against...
Aspartame to join WHO's cancer risk list, but industry calls for evidence
After 40 years of widespread global use, aspartame is to be declared as a possible carcinogen by the WHO but some experts disagree with...
Medical schemes deny ‘racist’ algorithm claim
Medical schemes this week came out fighting against allegations of racial discrimination, rejecting concerns by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) about possible bias...
Low-income context should be key consideration in CP litigation – SA review
Over the past half century, one medical malpractice claim – birth-related cerebral palsy (CP) – has had a major impact on obstetric care, resulting...
Back to square one in dispute over certificates of need for doctors
Health Minister Joe Phaahla has been granted a reprieve in the standoff over a section in the National Health Act which calls for doctors...
Unacceptable that people are still dying from AIDS, conference hears
Despite major strides to curb HIV infection, and boasting the world's largest ARV treatment programme, people are still dying from AIDS in South Africa...
Parliament passes NHI Bill but long road to implementation
The National Health Insurance Bill (NHI) has been passed by the National Assembly, taking it one step closer to becoming legislation although the road...
Significant drop in breast cancer death risk – Oxford study
The proportion of women who survive breast cancer has improved dramatically since the 1990s, say researchers, who found, in the largest study of its...