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News Update
Growing concern over drop in infant immunisations
The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness recently flagged a concerning decline in infant immunisation rates, and is intensifying its campaign to step...
KZN hospital contractor fired after five-year delay
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works & Infrastructure has dismissed the contractor appointed to build the maternity complex and associated support services at Nkonjeni...
Queues, staff shortages worsen at clinics after Pepfar cuts
The slashing of Pepfar funding this year has resulted in a notable deterioration in public healthcare facilities around the country, according to community-led monitoring...
Power outage adds to Dora Nginza Hospital woes
Surgeries at Dora Nginza Hospital in Gqeberha had to be cancelled last week when operating theatres were forced to shut down due to electrical failures.
The...
FDA approves Japanese antibody drug for kidney disease
Japanese pharmaceutical company Otsuka has received FDA accelerated approval for its antibody drug that treats a disease affecting the kidneys’ ability to filter waste, reports...
Nehawu objects to hospital CEO’s return
The National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has rejected the proposed return of Dr Thami Mayise as CEO of Durban’s Victoria Mxenge...
Eastern Cape communications official cleared of qualifications fraud
Four years after being suspended, and undergoing long investigation, Eastern Cape Health’s Director of Communications Siyanda Manana has been cleared of all wrongdoing, reports...
Exhausted UK staffer takes anaesthetic gas, naps in theatre
A British hospital worker has been given a 12-month caution order by a disciplinary panel after being found asleep in an operating theatre, covered...
WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo over
An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now over, DRC health officials and the World Health Organisation said this week, after...
Dutch restrictions on assisted suicide to remain
The Dutch Government does not have to ease its restrictions on assisted suicide after a court slapped down an appeal from a group campaigning...
Lancet Labs fined for data breach
Numerous high-profile data breaches, leaks and other security incidents had been reported in South Africa in the past year, among them Lancet Laboratories, which...
Groote Schuur doctor’s dismissal over bullying set aside
The Labour Court has overturned an arbitration decision that upheld the dismissal of Dr Kwazi Ndlovu, former head of the Nephrology Unit at Groote...
Twice-yearly anti-HIV jab added to SA’s Essentials Medicines List
The Department of Health’s National Essential Medicines List Committee (NEMLC) has approved the addition of the recently registered injectable anti-HIV drug lenacapavir (LEN-LA) to...
Tembisa official and Hawks man nailed in corruption sting
A Tembisa Hospital official and a sergeant from the Hawks have been charged with corruption and are due to appear in court this week,...
Pretoria specialist hospital flounders with no CEO
Staff at a Pretoria Hospital say that working conditions are deteriorating as they wait for the Gauteng Department of Health to replace the CEO...
Second legal bid to get authorities to act against Dudula vigilantism
Activists have gone to court again to compel the state to stop xenophobic vigilantes from stopping immigrants and undocumented people from accessing health services....
Swiss ‘wearables’ for all Netcare patients
Netcare intends to provide Swiss-made medical wearables to every patient in its general wards to continuously monitor their vital signs and improve outcomes, it...
Fewer HIV deaths but lifestyle disease risks worsen – Discovery
The effectiveness of sustained adherence to anti-retroviral treatment has led to a significant decline in mortality rates among people living with HIV, according to...
Netcare optimistic about boosting nurse-training numbers
Netcare CEO Richard Friedland has said there is a glimmer of hope that the company might finally be able to train more nurses –...
Bogus medical school closed down in Ladysmith
An unregistered facility claiming to be a traditional medicine training school was shut down in the Ladysmith CBD last week – after enrolling hundreds...
Trio convicted in major UK online illegal medicines bust
A major online syndicate involving a multimillion-pound criminal network supplying controlled drugs and unauthorised medicines has been bust wide open by British authorities.
Three people...
UK trials to test puberty blockers in children, young people
Two studies will investigate the impact of puberty blockers in young people with gender incongruence after researchers said an expert view had suggested gender...
Nestlé urged to ban sugar in baby foods
A group of 20 African civil society organisations, including three from South Africa, have written an open letter to Nestlé, demanding the company stop...
G20 leaders pledge $11bn to tackle deadly diseases
Several nations have raised $11.34bn for the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria, with President Cyril Ramaphosa saying that $36m would be...
Measles outbreaks escalate in Western Cape
The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness has escalated its vaccination campaigns, warning of an increase in measles outbreaks in areas like Khayelitsha,...
Rising levels of drug-resistant gonorrhoea worldwide, warns WHO
Gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, warns WHO, citing new data from its Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP), which monitors the spread...
Mediclinic’s pro bono cataract ops slash public facility waiting lists
Cataracts remain one of the leading causes of preventable blindness in South Africa. Without treatment, these can quietly rob people of their independence.
Restoring sight...
Rise in adverse events in Gauteng cause for alarm
Concerned experts have flagged the rising numbers of patients coming to harm in Gauteng’s public hospitals – injuries, permanent disability and deaths – because...
HIV drugs roll-out under threat in court tender row
The National Department of Health has come under legal fire from the SA subsidiary of Indian generic pharmaceutical manufacturer Hetero, which alleges that the...
Push to declare diabetes a public health emergency
Civil society organisations are intensifying calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare diabetes a public health emergency, citing the need for urgent government intervention...
US seeks Africa data access in new aid agreements
The US Government is planning to secure memorandums of understanding (MOU) with African countries that offer limited health aid for five years in exchange...
Budget shortfall may affect KZN medicine supply – DA
The DA has warned that the continual financial slide of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health is likely to increase the risk of medicine shortages...
Gauteng Health HoD suspension ruled valid
The Labour Court has found that the suspension of Gauteng Health HoD Lesiba Arnold Malotana – who had then accused Premier Panyaza Lesufi of...
Court clarifies law on disclosing someone’s HIV status
Disclosing someone’s HIV status publicly constitutes either defamation or breach of privacy, with a Bloemfontein court recently declaring they are independent and distinct actions that must...
Parliament flags dire state of Northern Cape facilities
Chronic conditions in Northern Cape health clinics and hospitals were exposed and highlighted during a three-day parliamentary oversight visit – from crumbling infrastructure and...
Man dies from meat allergy triggered by tick bites
Last year, a previously healthy 47-year-old father collapsed and died in the bathroom of his home, with an autopsy providing no answers. CNN reports...
US-bought birth control for sub-Saharan Africa rots in Belgium
There’s a new twist in the saga of the American-purchased contraceptives intended for sub-Saharan Africa and stuck in Belgium since the Trump administration scaled...
WHO to shed 2 000 jobs
The shock withdrawal of US funding – its main donor – will see the World Health Organisation slashing its staff numbers by nearly a quarter, or...
Woman born without most of her brain turns 20
Doctors told her parents she wasn’t expected to survive past the age of four, but a Nebraska, USA, woman born without cerebral hemispheres celebrated...
TB rates fall for the first time since Covid – WHO report
Global tuberculosis rates fell about 2% in 2024 from the previous year, shows a World Health Organisation report, after rising for three consecutive years...