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Ramaphosa promises 'health revolution' as summit sets 10 key targets
As delegates met for the second Presidential Health Summit last week, longstanding, unresolved challenges were back on the agenda, but adding to the woes...
No funding model yet, but NHI gets big chunk of health budget
There is still no sign of a cost model for the National Health Insurance (NHI), but a large proportion of this year's much-reduced health...
Sickness claims hint at long-term impact of Covid
The large number of sickness claims related to Covid-19 in the past financial year indicates that the long-term effects of the coronavirus, in the...
Bara borrows food to address critical shortages
The Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital was this week thrust into the spotlight again, this time over a drastic shortage of food for patients...
Increasing violent attacks put state healthcare workers at risk
Medical staff are increasingly coming under attack countrywide, from both criminals and patients, with some institutions restricting access for fear of violence, writes MedicalBrief.
The...
Nurse wins R3m private hospital care for botched state operation
Almost 10 years after the fact, a nurse at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, who suffered serious injuries in a botched operation at a...
'Landmark' ruling confirms free healthcare right for all pregnant women, children
The Gauteng High Court, in a hard-hitting judgment which civil society groups said was a victory against xenophobia, has ruled that all pregnant women...
Government shuns local vaccine-maker and switches to imports
While Ministers are punting South Africa as a biopharmaceutical investment destination and government has bemoaned the lack of vaccine manufacturing capacity in the country,...
Urgent need for diverse strategy to address rising medico-legal claims
As the number of medico-legal claims rise, with both the size and value of claims also mushrooming, there is an urgent need to review...
Significant drop in newborns' RSV risk with vaccine for pregnant women
A trial examining the effect of an RSV vaccine on pregnant women found it reduced – by 82% – the risk of severe lower...
Department to pay after lawyers' blunder in cerebral palsy appeal case
The Eastern Cape Health Department will have to fork out millions of rands in damages to the mother of a child born with cerebral...
Eastern Cape hospitals flounder under surgical backlogs and massive debts
Eastern Cape hospitals are battling to stay afloat, with seemingly little hope of catching up on massive surgical backlogs, and the Health Department owing...
Infertility affects one in six worldwide, large-scale WHO analysis finds
About 17.5% of the global adult population, or roughly one in six, will experience infertility at some point, according to a report recently published...
Healthcare workers on losing end after chaotic strike
After a disruptive strike which cost four people their lives, healthcare workers are no better off as the chaos caused has not resulted in...
Treatment gaps and poor governance hold back progress in reducing TB
Tuberculosis was declared a global public emergency of international concern 30 years ago, so why are 1.6m people still dying from the disease worldwide...
Doctors flag high death risk as Rahima Moosa dysfunctionality exposed
As the full horror of the conditions at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital (RMMCH) unfolded with the release of a damning report, and...
Conflicting legal views present another hurdle in NHI Bill discussions
Parliament's Health Committee has received conflicting legal opinions on the National Health Insurance Bill, leaving MPs with an unexpected headache as they finalise deliberations...
Deaths blamed on violent, reckless thuggery of striking healthcare workers
Whatever sympathy striking healthcare workers hoped to achieve in support of their many grievances has almost certainly been dashed by their violent, intimidatory and...
Callous disregard at 'dirty', 'filthy', 'unsafe' Rahima Moosa – Ombud
After a year-long investigation, the Health Ombudsman has made damning findings against the CEO of the Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital, saying the...
Hospitals and patients bear the brunt of disruptive Nehawu strike
While the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) received sympathy for the issues over which its members went on strike this week,...
Parents of abused child jailed after doctors sought private prosecution
Doctors who had twice examined a badly beaten up six-month-old girl in Pretoria and concluded that she was a victim of repeated abuse, sought...
Hospitals to be exempt from load shedding but it won't happen overnight
The good news is that hospitals are among the entities to be exempted from load-shedding under the national State of Disaster regulations promulgated this...
Activists flag serious health risks as sugar tax increase is delayed again
There’s been an outcry after the government announced a delay in the “sugar tax” increase in last week’s Budget speech, with health experts and...
HSPCA criticised for 'limp' sanction for Limpopo MEC
The caution and reprimand issued by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba after last year’s viral...
Cost of key cancer drug drops after generics victory
Lenalidomide is an important medicine in the treatment of multiple myeloma but it’s probably most infamous for its high price tag, notes MedicalBrief.
So high...
Study flags 'highly prevalent' mistreatment at top SA medical school
A recently published study – the first of its kind – found that medical student mistreatment was highly prevalent at a South African medical school...
Legal action threat as hospitals struggle with load shedding
As healthcare workers continue to feel the brunt of ongoing load shedding, a union is threatening to take government to court over the widespread...
Calls for specialised medical courts as top surgeon hit with more charges
Health professionals groups have called for specialised medical courts or alternative processes to deal with criminal charges against medical professionals, saying such allegations should...
No proof yet that sugar tax has led to obesity decline, say cane growers
Government is yet to provide data to show that obesity levels have declined since the introduction of the "sugar tax" in 2018, South Africa's...
NHI not being built on any one country’s model – Crisp
South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) is not being modelled on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), and reaction to Health Minister Joe Phaahla’s...
Fraud and abuse cost medical schemes R28bn a year
Medical aid fraud and abuse is costing the sector up to R28bn every year, with some companies saying up to 15% of claims include...
Not our job to place young doctors, says Health Department
Despite South Africa’s critical shortage of doctors, with barely one doctor for every 1 000 patients, the national Health Department has told jobless doctors...
Triumph for medical schemes as RAF denied leave to appeal payment ruling
In a development that has industry-wide implications, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has denied the Road Accident Fund (RAF) leave to appeal against its ruling...
Health facilities under strain with no end soon to rolling power cuts
As South Africa plummets towards a potential shift to stage eight load shedding, healthcare organisations warn of the drastic effects of rolling power cuts...
NPOs in court bid to halt SA Covid vaccination campaign
Three non-profit organisations have brought an application in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to stop the country’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign until a full investigation by...
Pandemic far from over as kraken sub-variant and surge in China show
As China buckles under a surge in Covid-19 cases, sparking fears of a new coronavirus mutant being unleashed on the world, South Africa has...
Research into popular blood thinner drug under scrutiny
Revelations from US documents show research into a popular blood thinner, used by millions of people around the world after being approved for stroke...
Tembisa tender kingpins to face prosecution
The much plundered Tembisa Hospital was the focus of activity this week, as a Hawks raid saw detectives seizing computers and documents, their haul...
WHO urges action to stem rising AMR as experts call for new neonatal drugs
In yet another grim report about rising levels of resistance to bacteria, experts warn that by 2050 an estimated 10m people will die annually...
Genetic research key to address critical rates of SCD, local experts say
Sudden cardiac deaths (SCD), especially in the young, should be deemed a clinical health priority, and urgently treated as such, with general practitioners playing...