HomeNews Update
News Update
Gastro outbreak affects 500 in Tshwane, Makhanda
Unchlorinated water supplied by Tshwane’s Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works for three weeks resulted in at least 408 people, mostly toddlers under four, contracting gastrointestinal...
Compounding drug rules revised in SA
Updated minimum standards and rules regarding the customisation of medicines, including GLP-1 treatments for diabetes and weight loss, can be expected in South Africa...
WCape incentives to reward communities for healthy lifestyle choices
An unusual incentive scheme is being trialled by the Western Cape Department of Health in which participants are rewarded for healthy choices like immunising...
Surgeries on hold as Mpumalanga hospital battles cooling crisis in heatwave
Critical issues with the cooling systems at the Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mpumalanga are resulting in surgical postponements and unnecessary delays in theatre procedures,...
Free State hospitals hit by rampant theft and crime
Relentless efforts by an organised network of serial thieves to steal critical equipment from Free State hospitals is forcing the already strained facilties to...
New CSIR pharma facility aims to reduce reliance on imported APIs
The CSIR’s brand new research facility in Pretoria, launched last week, aims to reduce the country’s massive reliance on international supplies of active pharmaceutical...
Guinea-Bissau denies approving hepatitis vaccine trial
Judicial police in Guinea-Bissau seized doses of the hepatitis B vaccine from the offices of the controversial researchers linked to a proposed clinical trial...
DRC Ebola jab trial starts soon, Kenya records second death
As the Congo’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak overtakes the 9 000-case mark, with deaths exceeding 4 000, the WHO said the first full-scale human vaccine...
Another four mpox cases in SA
South Africa has recorded four new lab-confirmed mpox cases, bringing the cumulative national total to 26 cases since 1 January 2026, up from 22,...
Nigeria confirms first Ebola case
The Nigerian health ministry said a woman had been diagnosed with Ebola in the capital, Abuja, after travelling from Uganda, reports Sky News.
This is...
SA call for action against illegal obesity medicines suspected in US deaths
Big Pharma in South Africa and the US is calling for urgent crackdown on illegal medicines, especially unregulated obesity drugs like retatrudite, which is...
Unpacking the Health Department's response to NHI ad spending
Deputy Department of Health DG Nicholas Crisp appeared before Parliament last week to account for the allegations in an investigation published on 27 September...
MPs flags Health Department’s stalled audit progress
The lack of consequence management in the National Department of Health for its complete lack of movement on its audit outcome for more than...
President appoints task team to address pharma challenges
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the establishment of a government-business task force to tackle the challenges facing the pharmaceutical sector, reports Business Day.
It comes...
Specialist doctors dispatched to care for Zuma in private hospital
Amid conflicting reports and rumours of a discharge, it appears Jacob Zuma was still in St Anne’s Hospital yesterday, having been admitted the previous...
Cyber thieves access 80m Ampath patient records
Cyber criminals say they’ve accessed more than 80m patient records from Ampath Laboratories, one of South Africa’s largest pathology service providers, with ByteToBreach, which...
Medical equipment firms face tribunal over monopoly allegations
Several of South Africa’s largest suppliers of diagnostic imaging equipment have been referred by the the Competition Commission to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution,...
Second chance with voice box surgery during larynx removal
Although surgical removal of the larynx can improve the survival odds for someone with advanced cancer of the voice box, the huge cost is...
Bottlenecks, bed shortages for SA’s mental health patients
A psychiatry expert has warned that an acute lack of community-based resources and specialised beds is leaving South Africa’s public sector overstretched, reports IOL.
This...
UKZN student’s telemedicine project will bridge healthcare gap
An 18-year-old University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) medical student has used technology to create an innovative telemedicine healthcare project that will overcome communication challenges in...
New Vanderbijlpark clinic, EMS base, to boost local healthcare services
Vanderbijlpark residents in Gauteng will have expanded and improved access to primary healthcare services with last week’s opening of the new Johan Heyns Gateway...
Groote Schuur’s new ER/trauma centre open for business
The upgraded state-of-the-art R200m emergency and trauma centre at Groote Schuur Hospital – which will treat up to 4 500 patients a month –...
Public Protector seeks answer over Charlotte Maxeke Hospital repairs
More than five years after the massive fire engulfed parts of Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, the delayed repairs have still not been completed, much...
‘Unethical’ hepatitis B jab study to go ahead in Guinea-Bissau
The University of Southern Denmark has given the green light to the controversial $1.6m CDC-funded study in Guinea-Bissau that plans to offer life-saving hepatitis...
UK approves new weekly insulin shot
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has authorised Eli Lilly’s Onswik (insulin efsitora alfa) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus...
CDC Africa offices close as Trump targets new deals
The US Government agency charged with combating disease outbreaks abroad is shrinking as Donald Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy takes hold, with...
UN warns of thriving illicit medicines trade across central Africa
The United Nations issued another warning last week that central Africa could be facing a major public health threat from trafficked and illicit medicines,...
China announces candidate for WHO chief
China has announced its candidate nomination to lead the World Health Organisation and succeed current DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who reaches the end of...
Gauteng Health boosts podiatric care to stem tide of disabilities
In efforts to reduce avoidable disabilities, amputations and complications linked to chronic conditions, the Gauteng Department of Health is beefing up access to podiatry...
US to launch new vaccine research centre
US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr has announced a series of initiatives to study the rare adverse effects of vaccines, including a specialist research...
German and US scientists scoop Nobel Prize for unique brain mapping
Neuroscientists Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their research into light-gated ion channels and...
Commission issues deadline for Eastern Cape hospitals to resolve issues
Women who had just given birth in Eastern Cape hospitals had to sleep on cold floors and benches because of a bed shortage, the...
SAHPRA reminder on ACE inhibitor risks
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has issued an alert to healthcare professionals of the risk of angioedema during treatment with angiotensin-converting...
Health Department turns to Section 21 medicines amid shortage
While some desperate patients are turning to veterinarians for their epilepsy medicines as the national medicine shortage crisis reaches alarming levels, it turns out...
MPs call for mediation, urgent action on dental technician impasse
A seven-year standoff between the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the SA Dental Technicians Council is preventing students from completing their practical training,...
MK Party demands Motsoaledi’s head over health adspend
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi must resign and a nationwide parliamentary inquiry into health procurement should be launched, according to the MK Party after the latest governmental...
Gauteng EMS staff dispute continues
The row over Gauteng Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff contracts and overtime is unresolved, with 21 people being charged and facing disciplinary action, reports...
Plague cover-up suspected after Russian woman's death and 200 under observation
Almost 200 people have been placed under medical observation in Russia’s Irkutsk region in eastern Siberia after a scientist died from suspected exposure to...
South African research takes huge R2.5bn knock from US aid cuts
The withdrawal of US research funding had cost South Africa’s science system a substantial R2.5bn, putting research jobs and student degrees at risk, Science,...
Alleged 'fake' doctor in court on fraud charges
In a case that has been dragging on for years, a KwaZulu-Natal man accused of using a fraudulent MBChB degree to register as a...