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Friday, 6 March, 2026
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News Update

Don't expect jobs from state, MEC tells protesting doctors

Jobless young doctors in the Eastern Cape, some of whom completed their community service in December and who protested outside the Health Department last...

Mothers call for probe into obstetric violence at state hospitals

More than 50 mothers and activists picketed outside the National Department of Health in Pretoria on Monday to demand better maternity healthcare, and calling...

Father refuses son’s blood transfusion because of religious beliefs

The life of a critically ill Mpumalanga teenager who needs a liver transplant hangs in the balance because his father has refused the blood...

New oncology clinic opens in Springbok

Cancer patients in remote Northern Cape towns will no longer have to endure gruelling journeys of up to 1 200km for life-saving treatment, thanks...

Bid to have charges dropped as UKZN med school case drags on

An attorney has formally sought the withdrawal of corruption charges against one of seven people accused of paying bribes for admission to the University...

Suspected paediatric outbreak cleared in Aberdeen

The Eastern Cape Department of Health says the recent suspected outbreak affecting children in Aberdeen in the Sarah Baartman District has stabilised, and is...

US health deals stall in Africa

Africa is proving to be not the easy pushover America had envisaged, even as the ink dried this past week on several new bilateral...

Kenyan health, hospital officials charged in multimillion-dollar fraud probe

Charges against a number of directors from various Kenyan hospitals as well as several government officials all linked to Social Health Authority (SHA) fraud –...

Spain bans energy drink sales to under-16s

The Spanish Government is moving ahead with a ban on energy drinks for minors, based on data warning of the risks of caffeine in...

Now Kennedy claims keto diet can ‘cure’ schizophrenia

US experts have condemned Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr’s statement recently that the keto diet could cure schizophrenia – an unfounded claim they...

Western Cape Health says meningitis under control

There is no meningococcal meningitis outbreak in the Western Cape, the provincial Department of Health and Wellness said last week, noting that only 11...

Listed prices of Ozempic to be halved in 2027, says Novo

Novo Nordisk plans to slash prices of its listed price for weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus by up to...

Kruger floods spark Limpopo malaria fears

Communities ravaged by the recent floods throughout Limpopo are facing another problem, with a noticeable increase in mosquitoes raising fears about getting sick, write Israel Nkuna...

Global experts explore SA’s future health readiness

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Office in South Africa and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research recently convened an expert policy...

Africa-wide psychosis research network launched

Psychotic disorders remain under-researched and under-resourced across Africa, despite evidence that between 1% and 4.4% of people on the continent may experience psychosis during...

Digital Health Show 2026 debuts in Johannesburg this month

The Digital Health Show 2026 will make its highly anticipated inaugural debut in Gauteng on 25/26 March, firmly positioning itself as a cornerstone event...

Mediclinic wins round one in dialysis row with Life Healthcare

Medicinic has emerged victorious in its first round against against Life Healthcare Group’s bid to continue offering renal dialysis services at five Mediclinic hospitals,...

Convicted fraudster gets CEO job at Free State hospital

Free State Health has appointed convicted fraudster Zongezile Adam Zumane – with no healthcare background – as CEO of Senorita Nhlabathi Hospital, exposing the...

SCA dismisses RAF appeal over hospital claims rulings

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed with costs an application by the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to appeal a judgment, slamming the...

Medscheme, Bonitas tender battle escalates

Medscheme says it has evidence – supplied by whistle-blowers – that tender processes used by Bonitas Medical Fund to award contracts, including to Momentum...

SAHRC orders Northern Cape Health to fix mental hospital mess

The SA Human Rights Commission has given the Northern Cape Department of Health 60 days to sort out the appalling state of the Northern...

Cipla joins legal challenge as Aids drug tender row escalates

The Department of Health’s controversial Aids drug tender is under fresh attack, after Cipla filed an application in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) last...

Previously-red-flagged firms score new oxygen tender contracts

The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) appears to have awarded a new R379m contract for hospital PSA oxygen plants countrywide to companies previously...

SA sanitary pad suppliers probed after study finds harmful chemicals

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has opened an investigation into nine sanitary pad and panty liner suppliers, after a University of the Free State...

Pharmacist gets 10 years or R500 000 fine for GEMS fraud

A judge has given a pharmacy owner in Malamulele, Limpopo, a 10-year term behind bars or the option to pay a R500 000 fine,...

MEC and paramedics clash looms in defamation case

A legal showdown between KwaZulu-Natal Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma and ALS Paramedics is expected to take place in the KZN High...

Lifestyles fuel rising hypertension among Gauteng young adults

Gauteng Health has warned of a rise in high blood pressure diagnoses among the province’s young adults, amid deteriorating lifestyle habits, reports The Citizen. Rising...

Zimbabwe rejects $350m US health deal

A proposed $350m health funding agreement with the United States has been rejected by Zimbabwe after President Emmerson Mnangagwa described the deal as compromising...

US proposes expensive alternative to WHO

America’s Health & Human Services department has proposed spending $2bn a year to re-create systems the country previously accessed through the WHO at a...

Polio resurgence fears but US healthcare ill-prepared

With a leading United States vaccines adviser saying all vaccine recommendations may be reconsidered – despite a surge in infectious diseases – experts are...

GEMS given seven days to respond to union demands on steep hikes

The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) has seven days to respond to the Public Servants Association’s demands to withdraw the 9.8% contribution hike for...

High Court date set for Kimberley Mental Hospital fraud case

Ten people – including a former Northern Cape MEC – will appear before the Northern Cape High Court in April on fraud and corruption...

FDA probes salmonella outbreak linked to moringa

US health officials are investigating a salmonella outbreak linked to an easily available brand of moringa powder – from the tree of the same...

Eastern Cape doctor on bail after rape allegations

A doctor from the Eastern Cape was released on R5 000 bail last week after appearing in the Komani Magistrate’s Court on a charge...

Applications for MPS Foundation’s 2026 grant programme open

South Africa healthcare healthcare practitioners, providers and researchers are being invited to apply for funding through the MPS Foundation’s 2026 grant programme. Launched in 2022...

Chinese MRI machines for Gauteng slammed by doctors

Doctors at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg have questioned a Gauteng Health Department decision to override their choice of MRI scanners and opting...

CMS wins bid to replace Sizwe Hosmed curator

The curator of the flailing Sizwe Hosmed medical scheme will be replaced, and it will remain fully functional, according to the Council for Medical...

Western Cape won’t hire CHWs on a permanent basis

The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness has no plans to comply with a 2025 Labour Court ruling that community health workers (CHWs)...

AfriForum serves summons over NHI

Civil society organisation AfriForum served a summons on government yesterday in a bid to have the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act declared unconstitutional, reports Polity. The respondents...

Health Minister grilled over ARV tenders

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said he would welcome Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into the ARV tender if the Health Portfolio Committee chose to...