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News Update
Free State Health confirms malaria death and cases
A Free State man has died and two other people are receiving treatment after three laboratory-confirmed malaria cases were identified in a single household...
US experts dispute calls for MMR jab to be split into three
A plan for vaccine makers to develop separate shots against measles, mumps and rubella to replace combination MMR vaccines, despite no evidence of any...
AG sounds alarm over NHLS financial audit
Most of the country’s provinces owe hefty amounts to the National Health Laboratory Services, which is still reeling from the crippling cyberattack in 2024,...
Steve Biko staff confirm system collapse after GDoH denial
The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has denied that patient safety was compromised after a maintenance shutdown affected critical departments at the Steven Biko...
Discovery focuses on sleep to boost members’ health
Research by Discovery Health has confirmed that not only does insufficient sleep harm your health but it also dents your wallet, with three years...
KZN Health MEC cleared of corruption
KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi has been cleared of graft allegations relating to her family and a loan from state bank Ithala, Premier Thami...
US, Japan scientists win Nobel prize for immune system breakthrough
American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell – and Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan – won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on...
NICD urges vaccinations as measles cases continue to rise
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has reported a continued rise in measles cases across South Africa, with Gauteng leading in the number...
Mental health patient tries to set bed alight
A fire was contained in the female psychiatry ward at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital on Monday, Gauteng Health said, when a mental health...
Funding for Scottish researchers will help eczema sufferers
A new technology from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, which it anticipates will “revolutionise” eczema diagnosis and treatment, has secured more than £475 000 for clinical research, reports The...
New MPS framework supports safer AI use in healthcare
A new framework, aimed to help healthcare practitioners in South Africa integrate AI safely and responsibly into practice, has been launched by Medical Protection.
The...
SAHPRA backs safety of paracetamol
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has confirmed that paracetamol remains a safe and recommended option for treating pain and fever during...
Tembisa tender tycoon now wants R1bn deal from North West
Despite Hangwani Morgan Maumela – the tender don of Tembisa Hospital – being paid R820m in two years through a network of front companies,...
Private healthcare monopolies flagged again in new report
Not much has changed in the private healthcare sector over the past half dozen years, and the absence of regulatory intervention, as well as...
Medical aid premium hikes way above inflation
Medical schemes are to increase their premiums by up to four times the current inflation rate of 3.3% in January, reports News24, with Bonitas...
Lack of security puts Johannesburg clinic staff at risk
Nurses at Jeppestown Clinic in downtown Johannesburg have pleaded for more security, saying one unarmed security guard is inadequate at a facility where staff...
Power shutdown causes chaos at Steve Biko Hospital
Frustrated and angry doctors said an electricity maintenance shutdown at Pretoria’s Steve Biko Academic Hospital at the weekend came without any warning, resulting in...
One ambulance for 50 000 people
Angry and anxious residents say that only one ambulance is working in the Sundays River Valley Municipality in the Eastern Cape, with the Health...
Private sector to bail out NHLS in cancer test backlog
In a bid to slash its overwhelming backlog of cancer tests at its Johannesburg facility, the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) – which receives...
Free healthcare for migrants 'a mistake', says Minister
South Africa’s resources are limited and the government had made a mistake in 1996 in granting services to everyone in the country – whether...
Plan for ‘special Bill’ to plug health funding gap
National Treasury says it is planning to approach Parliament for a Special Appropriation Bill to bridge the funding shortfall in Health and the gap...
SA launches WHO-backed plan to combat rise of counterfeit meds
A national action plan to fight the alarming rise of fake and sub-standard medicines in South Africa will be implemented from next year, aimed...
Big hearts, willing givers, tackle Western Cape cataract backlog
A massive backlog of nearly 500 cataract surgeries in the Western Cape has been wiped out, thanks to the efforts of Gift of the...
WHO warns pollution killing thousands of South Africans annually
The WHO has urged South Africa to adopt stronger air quality standards aligned to global guidelines and accelerate a just energy transition through clean...
Indian court orders handwriting lessons for doctors
Jokes around the notoriously bad handwriting of doctors are common worldwide, but the latest order emphasising the importance of clear handwriting was in India,...
Anti-doping agency bans non-diagnostic carbon monoxide in sport
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will add the non-diagnostic use of carbon monoxide to its prohibited methods list from next year, reports Reuters.
The gas...
Vaccines averted 17m deaths in five years, WHO reports
Vaccinations saved the lives of around 17m people between 2021 and 2024, but according to the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on...
CDC flags surge of infections from drug-resistant bacteria
Health officials in the United States have warned that infections from dangerous bacteria, which are resistant to some of the strongest antibiotics available, have...
US ‘pregnancy crimes’ escalate with hundreds of women charged
More than 400 American women have been charged with pregnancy-related crimes in the first two years since the US Supreme Court’s controversial overturning of...
KZN doctor, nurses nabbed in drunk driving blitz
A doctor and three nurses were among 66 motorists arrested on the weekend in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal, for drunk driving, drawing condemnation from Transport...
Health officials central to R2bn Tembisa looting spree
Government officials, from high ranking managers to junior officials, all acted together to fleece a staggering R2bn from the Tembisa Hospital in a web...
Murder charge against Operation Dudula after baby’s death
The EFF in Gauteng has opened a criminal case against the Operation Dudula movement, accusing it of inciting violence and unlawfully targeting foreign nationals in...
New US-first health strategy sidelines South Africa
Future health aid to South Africa from the US may be in jeopardy after the Trump administration released a new “America first” global health...
Suspension for hospital cleaner ‘bust’ with bag of placentas
The Mpumalanga Department of Health has suspended a 39-year-old cleaner from Lydenburg Hospital after she was arrested for being found in possession of human placentas,...
Keloid weighing 3.5kg removed for Limpopo man
Surgeons have successfully removed a massive and disfiguring keloid growth from the neck of a Limpopo man who has been living with the pain...
US panel stops advising Covid jab for adults
There was much flip-flopping of decisions and reversals of conclusions last week during two days of meetings of the US vaccine advisory committee, which...
Gates urges more government action, pledges R15bn
The Gates Foundation will give $912m to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, philanthropist Bill Gates announced this week as he urged...
Kennedy clamps down on organ harvesting groups after dodgy cases
Recently publicised cases in the United States relating to shady organ procurement processes – and cases of still-living, neurologically active patients almost having their...
Time for SA to stand on its own, Aids experts agree
Healthcare and Aids activists agreed that it was time to face up to the reality of the US funding cuts – and its enormous...
Call for 'war room' action as Eastern Cape children die of hunger
The deaths of 70 Eastern Cape children in the first six months of this year have been linked to severe acute malnutrition, which the...