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Trump’s funding freeze threatens to paralyse SA NGOs
South African NGOs are already feeling the squeeze as US President Donald Trump’s planned suspension of all foreign development assistance begins to take effect,...
World health at a crossroads as Trump dumps WHO
Public health experts have warned of major repercussions following the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organisation, undermining the nation’s standing...
Minister under fire as number of jobless doctors grows
Doctors groups are warning that the rising number of unemployed junior doctors requires urgent action - with the South African Medical Association threatening legal...
NHI legal challenge 'discriminatory', Minister argues
Another major healthcare group has called for collaboration between the state and private sector, but, writes MedicalBrief, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is digging in...
Time to end compulsory community service for doctors?
Community service placements for young doctors have been beset by poor planning, uncertainty and financial insecurity, leading to a group of experts questioning whether...
SAHPRA and drug companies flag risks of compounded weight-loss drugs
Compounded versions of hugely popular weight-loss and obesity drugs have led to the deaths of at least 10 people and 100 hospitalisations overseas, prompting...
Health Department eyes PIC trillions for hospital infrastructure
The Health Department and national Treasury are in talks to dig into South Africa’s R2.7trn savings pool held by the Public Investment Corporation for the...
Health experts urge banning of toxic pesticides after children's deaths
Evidence linking pesticide exposure to serious health impacts has been steadily mounting, with health experts repeatedly sounding the alarm and now, after six more...
ANC and DA Ministers in GNU Cabinet dust-up over NHI
Disagreement over the National Health Insurance (NHI) – coming hard on the heels of a third legal case launched against the Act this month...
CMS probes medical aid AGM costs amid hefty premium hikes
Medical schemes, under fire for high premium increases for 2025 – which in most cases will be pegged above 10% – are also being...
Government plays for time on NHI court cases
Will government consider amendments to the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act? As government lawyers seek more time to respond to two lawsuits against the...
World first as woman’s own stem cells reverse her diabetes
A 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes started producing her own insulin less than three months after receiving a transplant of reprogrammed stem cells,...
Serious adverse events top 7 000 in hospitals as vacancy rates rise
Public hospitals in Gauteng notched up 7 117 cases of unintended harm inflicted on patients – serious adverse events (SAEs) – last year and...
AI and what it might mean for healthcare in SA
With varying degrees of success, artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to play the role of research assistant, radiologist, health educator and even therapist more...
Minister targets dodgy lawyers as SIU probes R30bn medico-legal claims
Unscrupulous lawyers, often in collusion with healthcare practitioners, who have lodged multi-billion rand fraudulent medico-legal claims against the Health Department, are now being offered...
Stand-off over President's health compact
Health professional groups are standing firm against signing the Presidential health compact in Pretoria today, saying they are being expected to sign a document...
Mpox now declared a global emergency
The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency as health authorities sound the...
Relief as Rolene Wagner returns to hot seat
Former head of the Eastern Cape Department of Health Dr Rolene Wagner returned to the position this week after intervention from the Office of...
Certificate of need ruling not linked to NHI – Minister
The scathing judgment by the High Court declaring sections of the National Health Act unconstitutional, was not related to the NHI and attempts to...
HIV-prevention jab roll-out a game-changer for SA
South Africa's HIV infection rates could be slashed significantly when the twice-a-month HIV vaccine, among new treatments offering hope in reducing the massive global...
Health bosses guilty of Life Esidimeni deaths
The blame for some of the deaths in the Life Esidimeni tragedy – one of the worst human rights infringements in democratic South Africa...
BMJ study on link between excess deaths and Covid jab raises questions
A large study in 47 Western nations, published in BMJ Public Health, suggests that the “unprecedented” flood of nearly 3m pandemic-era excess deaths internationally...
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...
Ramaphosa signs NHI Bill, but long road ahead still
The National Health Insurance Bill is now law, with President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday signing the highly-contested sted legislation five years after it was first...
Ministers deliberately ‘demonise’ medical schemes, claims BHF research
Research presented at the annual Board of Healthcare Funders conference this week, including allegations that various Health Ministers have deliberately promoted false claims about...
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...
Bold promises in SA as world experts urge momentum for UHC
The Gauteng Premier sparked a storm of criticism on the election trail this week with his 'unrealistic' promises about universal healthcare (UHC), which despite...
Children used as guinea pigs in UK's tainted blood scandal
The National Health Service in the UK is facing a major criminal and ethical scandal as the true scale of the number of medical...
Dentist pleads not guilty to patient’s murder in ‘detox’ clinic
The trial of a Durban dentist, charged with murder after a patient died in his detox centre seven years ago, started in the High...
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...
Alarm as syphilis rates rise worldwide, including in SA
One of the oldest diseases in the world, syphilis is making an alarming comeback, with leading scientists describing it as a public health crisis...
Half of SA’s forensic pathology units fail competency tests
Nearly half of the country’s forensic pathology units have failed to achieve competency certification – with just three out of 16 in the Eastern...
SAMA gets tough after Cape Western branch ‘revolt’
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has suspended all 13 members of its Cape Western branch council for three years for ‘open revolt’ and...
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...
CMS seeks to place Netcare scheme under curatorship
In yet another clash with the healthcare industry, and following recent accusations of hostility and harassment, the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) has applied...
‘Trial by media’, murder accused paediatrician claims in court
Five years after he was arrested, renowned paediatric surgeon Peter Beale took the stand in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) to answer to the...
Neurological conditions now the number one cause of disease globally
Neurological conditions are now the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, surpassing cardiovascular disease and leading to a call for a change...
Top court to decide on medical aid information disclosures
In a case that will have groundbreaking implications for medical schemes and its members, the Constitutional Court will today deliberate on the extent of...
Regulator abusing power and hostile towards medical schemes – BHF
In an unprecedented move, the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has sent a legal letter to the Council for Medical Schemes and the Health...