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News Release
Bone Marrow Registry: SA second country to allow donations from 16-year olds
The South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) has received the nod from its Clinical Governance Committee and board members, as well as the National...
NHLS to roll out antigen tests at points of entry to SA
Antigen tests for SARS-CoV-2 detection will be rolled out to all ports of entry in South Africa with immediate effect.
The purpose of this rollout...
SA private hospitals now an 'obsessive infection control bubble'
Patients returning to private hospitals for treatment will find themselves in an “obsessive infection control bubble” environment that is intended to keep them safer...
Survey: SA's stress levels up by 56% since start of pandemic
A national survey conducted by pharmaceutical firm Pharma Dynamics has revealed a significant increase in psychological and emotional stress among South Africans as a...
SADPI: Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill not reflecting spirit of 2018 Constitutional Court ruling
The South African Parliament recently called for public comment on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill. In the opinion of the South African Drug...
North West urged to make public COVID procurement report, as promised
The North West Provincial COVID-19 procurement report presented during a media briefing by Premier Job Mokgoro in August, in his capacity as chair of...
Health Department and SABS reassure over government-issue condoms
The National Health Department and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) reassure South Africa that government issued condoms, which are branded as MAX...
UCT: Launch of an innovative ECG online training portal
Academics at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) faculty of health sciences have developed a cutting-edge digital platform that enables medical students and clinicians...
DA: 8 years and R130m later, North West health centre still not open
During a Legislature Committee oversight visit to the Sekhing Community Health Centre in Taung recently, we found the R130m facility closed, and two security...
WHO: Non-communicable diseases increase risk of dying from COVID-19 in Africa
There is increasing evidence that Africans living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension and diabetes are more likely to suffer severe cases of...
OECD: How artificial intelligence could change the future of health
Artificial intelligence (AI) has played a key role in virtually every aspect of the COVID-19 response – from understanding the virus and accelerating research...
Pfizer/BioNTech: Phase 3 clinical trial for potential COVID-19 vaccine commences in SA
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE has announced the start of enrollment in South Africa for the Phase 3 pivotal COVID-19 vaccine trial. The recently...
Phoenix Financial Services CEO: Expect medical scheme price increase of at least 5%
The recent recommendation by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) to freeze or limit member contribution increases to 3.9% for 2021 will bring much...
University Free State: First atlas of skin diseases in Africa
A senior lecturer and specialist in the dermatology department at the University of the Free State (UFS) has published the very first comprehensive African...
SA Drug Policy Initiative: Proposed Cannabis Bill does not reflect the spirit of 2018 ConCourt ruling
The South African Parliament recently called for public comment on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill. In the opinion of the South African Drug...
DA: New moms at Frere Hospital sleep on floor and receive minimal care
Young mothers at Frere Hospital in Buffalo City Metro, most of whom have just had Caesarean sections and whose babies are in the Intensive...
Keytruda approved in SA for bladder cancer and non-small cell lung carcinoma
The approval of a breakthrough cancer medicine for a wider range of conditions offers renewed hope for South African patients battling this dreaded disease.
KEYTRUDA®...
TREATS launches COVID-19 study using existing mobile TB testing facilities in Zambia
A major TB study currently underway and aimed at investigating methods to reduce TB prevalence and infection in Zambia and South Africa will soon...
DA: Eastern Cape's COVID-19 data remains unreliable
The incompetent ANC-led Eastern Cape government has once again shown that it is still incapable of providing reliable COVID-19 data for the province. The...
Competition Commission welcomes Tribunal’s excessive pricing decision
The Competition Commission (Commission) welcomes the decision of the Competition Tribunal on 19 August 2020, that confirms as an order a settlement agreement between...
DA: Conditions at Hewu Hospital in Eastern Cape
Massive clinical and administrative staff shortages, access to water for only three hours a day and an emotionally exhausted frontline team – these are...
Netcare: First-in-SA volumetric arc therapy to treat leukaemia patient
In what is likely a medical first in South Africa, the radiotherapy department at Netcare Unitas Hospital in Centurion recently delivered a course of...
Malaria prevention cannot be allowed to stall during the pandemic
As COVID-19 threatens to derail more than a decade’s worth of hard-won gains in the fight against malaria, Dr Benjamin Pretorius, MD at ERADA...
Critical Care Society of SA: COVID-19 — Know when to seek medical attention
The Critical Care Society of Southern Africa, representing health professionals working with the critically ill in ICUs around the country, are concerned that many...
DA to lay criminal charges against KZN Health MEC for blocking oversight inspections in the province
Siviwe Gwarube, DA Shadow Minister of Health writes in a statement on the Politicsweb site:
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be laying criminal charges against...
DA questions excess deaths in Eastern Cape and posthumous testing
People are dying in much higher numbers in the Eastern Cape during the COVID-19 period. Excess deaths recorded in the province between June and...
NIOH: These are the women who make up SA's COVID-19 Occupational Health Outbreak Response Team
On Women's Day, we salute South Africa’s extraordinary occupational health experts who are leading the country on national COVID-19 guidelines and procedures, online training...
SA paediatric community position paper on 'disappointing' closure of public schools
The paediatric community, as represented by the Paediatrician Management Group (PMG) and the South African Paediatric Association (SAPA), is disappointed with the recent cabinet...
Medical technology industry: Alleged fraud and corruption in procurement of COVID-19 supplies
The South African Medical Technology Industry Association (SAMED) condemns all inappropriate and unethical business and marketing practices relating to medical technology regardless of when...
Treatment Action Group: An activist's guide to treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis
The 2020 updates to the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines shifted the global standard of care for drug-resistant TB in a number of important...
DA KZN: Why was highly effective Flying Doctor Service terminated?
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for answers from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu and her department following the termination of the highly...
DA oversight report on Mt Ayliff and St Patrick's hospitals
Eastern Cape hospital management and staff at the frontline of the defence against the raging COVID-19 pandemic, are having to find innovative ways to...
Healthy Living Alliance: Study on political strategies of SA's food and beverage industry
In the first study of its kind, researchers have uncovered the variety of strategies used by the food and beverage industry in South Africa...
BHF's 'great concern' over CMS circular on medical aid member support and exemption guidelines
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has noted with great concern the circular issued by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) Circular 50 of...
European Medicines Agency adopts positive opinion on monthly vaginal ring to reduce HIV
The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) has welcomed a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the dapivirine vaginal ring for use...
Board of Healthcare Funders releases first report on Botswana's medical schemes landscape
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF), a representative body for the continent’s healthcare funding industry has released a report on the Botswana medical funds...
Western Cape Premier: Diabetes and hypertension remain leading comorbidities
The Western Cape Health Department has has conducted another comprehensive analysis of the comorbidities associated with COVID-19 related deaths in the province, and, according...
SA medical technology industry statement on COVID-19 testing
The unforeseen crisis brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has created a global surge in demand for diagnostic and monitoring tests and a subsequent...
IRR: Government must tell us what the NHI will cost and where money will come from
It is deeply worrying that, with South Africa facing a debt crisis, the government talks up its National Health Insurance (NHI) proposal as the...
SA developed healthcare app contains costs improves frontline worker safety during CoVID-19
A South African developed healthtech app, Signapps, has been taken up by South African private hospitals as a tool to manage the escalating costs...