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Medical posts added to revised Critical Skills List – finally
In a major concession by government to the growing medical staff crisis, the revised Critical Skills List – gazetted on 2 August – includes...
Critical need for national strategy to address chronic surgical backlog
National Department of Health statistics reveal that more than 107,000 non-emergency or elective surgeries were put on the back burner during the COVID-19 pandemic....
How therapeutic fashion trumps medical evidence
Profit motives and fear of missing out or going against the trend, has led to health professionals following therapeutic fashions instead of questioning accepted...
Beginning of the end for SAMA as Western Cape branch suspended?
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) board has suspended its Western Cape branch amid charges and counter charges of suspicious and irregular conduct, with...
The high price medical whistle-blowers have to pay
Medical whistle-blowers face victimisation, intimidation and assassination, writes MedicalBrief. New information indicates that chief accountant Babita Deokaran flagged potentially fraudulent Tembisa Hospital contracts worth...
Major study casts doubt over serotonin link to depression
Experts have cast doubt on widespread antidepressant use after a major “eye-opening” review found “no evidence” of a link between serotonin and its relationship...
SA companies, institutions, do U-turn on COVID and vaccine mandates
An increasing number of South African companies and institutions are relaxing or dropping their COVID-19 restrictions, with Standard Bank and Old Mutual being among...
Scientists warn of more zoonotic diseases as third SA monkeypox case confirmed
South Africa recorded its third case of monkeypox on Monday. The Limpopo Health Department said in a statement that the National Institute for Communicable...
Scientists a step closer to building artificial heart for human transplantation
Heart disease is deadly, in part because the heart, unlike other organs, cannot repair itself after injury. That is why tissue engineering, ultimately including the...
Moonlighting drains specialist care at state hospitals
At least a quarter of senior government doctors and specialists are abusing a dual-practice system allowed by the state by working both jobs at...
UK punts e-cigs in ambitious smoke-free plan, but US more cautious
As the UK prepares for a Smoke-free 2030 goal, the use of vaping as a means of doing so has again created divisions, with...
Scathing ruling against state's bid to control where doctors work
The Department of Health’s plans to control where doctors work have been dealt a blow by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) which has declared...
Lessons from the pandemic: vaccines prevent deaths, and ‘listen to scientists’
As South Africa last week joined the ranks of a growing number of countries which have dropped all COVID-19 restrictions, bringing to an end...
Health professionals unite in "I Am" movement against state victimisation
A 130-strong group of senior, highly-regarded health professionals have come together to publicly highlight the deteriorating conditions at state health institutions and stand united...
Scarce training opportunities a major hurdle in addressing doctor shortage
The critical factor limiting local doctor supply and exacerbating the already severe shortage of doctors in SA is the constraint on the number of...
One in six people dying prematurely from air pollution
Pollution worldwide is increasing, and along with that, causing more health issues for populations around the globe. Side-effects of exposure are many, varied and...
HRC to monitor Rahima Moosa, calls for reclassification of hospital
As the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital turned its focus on whistle-blower doctor Tim de Maayer this week – instead of addressing the...
How race, money and where you live affect who survives COVID
When COVID-19 hit South Africa, it was clear it was a disease that showed no prejudice in who was targeted for infection, with the...
Political battle lines drawn as NHI Bill deliberations start
With more than 300 000 submissions from stakeholders and the public, the contentious NHI Bill now before Parliament will require long and hard deliberations...
Renowned medical journal rejects papers excluding African researchers
“Helicopter research” occurs when researchers from high-income settings, or who are otherwise privileged, conduct studies in lower-income settings or with groups who are historically...
NHI fears increase pessimism among medical professionals
The National Health Insurance (NHI) has led to widespread uncertainty and pessimism among health professionals, with a number of them losing confidence in their...
Viruses paused during COVID pandemic are on their way back
COVID-19 and related restrictions have led to unexpected health consequences worldwide, with both adults and children displaying lower naturally-acquired immunity against other diseases, making...
Monkeypox possibly linked to decrease in smallpox vaccine – global experts
Theories are varied regarding the unusual outbreak of monkeypox, a rare tropical disease that appears to be spreading across the globe, with some linking...
Ibuprofen may worsen some chronic pain and increase risk of kidney injury in BP patients
Ibuprofen, one of the most common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in use, may be contra-indicated in some conditions where it has long been used,...
Trans women in female sports: Fairness and inclusion can’t always be balanced
Any debate on transgender participation must start by asking why women’s sports exist as a category, says South African sports scientist Ross Tucker, in...
Cognitive problems from severe COVID similar to 20 years of ageing – UK study
Cognitive impairment as a result of severe COVID-19 is similar to that sustained between 50 and 70 years of age, and the equivalent to...
Strong support for curbs to Health Minister’s powers in proposed NHI
That the Minister of Health is vested with excessive powers is a central concern of many submissions on the proposed National Health Insurance Bill,...
Pandemic wipes out a decade of improvement in maternal health in SA
The COVID-19 epidemic has had a severe effect on maternal and perinatal mortality in South Africa, according to the SA Health Review of 2021,...
Remote medical diagnoses: Putin has Parkinsonʼs and Biden has dementia
Over the past few months, Russian leader President Vladimir Putin has been remotely diagnosed in the Western media with enough grim diseases to fill...
Submissions: NHI Bill has serious constitutional and human rights implications
An assessment of 117 submissions to the public hearings on the contentious National Health Insurance Bill (NHI) – collated by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group...
Former Health Minister’s come-back ambition suffers new blows
The controversial decision of Parliament’s Ethics Committee to clear former Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize of wrongdoing arising from the irregular Digital Vibes tender...
AI arrhythmia predictor has ‘potential to transform clinical decision-making’
A new artificial intelligence-based approach can predict, significantly more accurately than a doctor, if and when a patient could die of cardiac arrest. The...
SA study suggests flu shots for children could be effective in reducing overall transmission
Vaccination of children might be effective in reducing influenza transmission in African settings – not only among this at-risk group but the community in...
Rampant legal collusion in health sector corruption – MUT/Stellenbosch study
Collusion between legal practitioners – including the State Attorney’s Office – medical staff, politicians and administrators has resulted in the government being defrauded of...
Sodium restriction in heart failure should be taken with a pinch of salt
The time-worn, standard injunction against low-salt consumption in heart failure is not borne out by the evidence, writes MedicalBrief. The SODIUM-HF trial, conducted at...
Pandemic’s predicted deluge of medical malpractice claims hasn’t happened
COVID-19 seemingly created the perfect conditions for medical malpractice claims, write Carol Holness, Anika de Kock and Donald Dinnie of Norton Rose Fulbright SA in...
Flu jab has seasonal heart benefits and cuts pneumonia by 42%
People with heart failure who received an annual influenza vaccine had a reduction in major cardiovascular events during peak influenza season but not year-round,...
BRAVE trials show that baricitinib can slap down alopecia
An oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor produced significant, durable hair growth, including scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes in patients with severe alopecia areata (AA), according...
R37m medical negligence award overturned despite state admission of liability
A R37m medical negligence award against Eastern Cape Health to a single mother caring for a severely disabled child against has been rescinded, reports...
COVID-19 with flu substantially increases risk of severe illness and death
Hospitalised adults with COVID-19 and flu at the same time are at substantially greater risk of severe disease and death compared with patients who...