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News Update
FBI flags new hackers targeting health
Public health and healthcare groups, among others, are urged to be on the alert for a ransomware group actively targeting the sector, according to...
Expanded day hospital will help ease backlogs in Eastern Cape
The only day hospital in Gqeberha with a licence for overnight patients reached another significant milestone last week with the unveiling of its expansion,...
Rob Ferreira Hospital patient waiting time woes intensify
Crippling delays and queues, compounded by sparse, apathetic employees, are frustrating outpatients at Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela, who have complained that staff shortages...
Tobacco Bill under scrutiny by MPs
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health this week began analysing the wording of the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill’s preamble and definitions,...
Lilly sues illicit weight loss drug dealers
Six companies are being sued by Eli Lilly for selling versions of its experimental weight-loss drug retatrutide, with the company saying this is just...
Fast-rising China pharma industry to take on global giants
Chinese analysts say the country is anticipating the emergence – within the next decade – of a home-grown pharmaceutical giant capable of competing with...
Ebola outbreak the deadliest ever – WHO
The WHO says the runaway outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is likely to overtake the deadliest outbreak of the disease...
Zepbound injectable remains doctors’ favourite, despite oral options
A recent survey in the United States has found that injected weight loss drugs are still preferred by physicians over newer oral treatments –...
Trump order slashes childhood jabs
Still fixated on the unproved theory that vaccines are linked to autism, last week – for the third time in less than a year...
Delayed Tygerberg Hospital project aims for 2033/34 commissioning
The current timeline for the commissioning of the new Tygerberg Central Hospital is only in the 2033/34 financial year, despite the building project first...
Union wants accountability after Free State staff attack by patient
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) in the Free State has pledged its full support to three hospital staff attacked by a...
UCT Poisons Centre gets funding injection from Aspen
Aspen Pharmacare has, for the third year in a row, given a financial boost – of R1.4m – to the University of Cape Town’s...
SA launches folic acid replacement trial
A major clinical trial launched recently will investigate whether a new nutritional supplement could be a potential replacement for the iron and folic acid...
Stiff sentences for murder of Soweto doctor
Two men linked to the murder of Dr Michael Isabelle during a robbery at his Dobsonville, Soweto, general practice in 2024 have been sentenced...
Trump orders MMR vaccine to be split into three jabs
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood shots should be spaced...
Netcare seeks approval for AI risk prediction tool
Netcare is seeking regulatory approval for a scientific algorithm that predicts early warning signs of life-threatening deterioration in patients after a successful clinical study...
North West dental patients in agony from jab shortages, water issues
North West patients needing dental care are fed up with constant treatment delays at some clinics, saying first they had to wait months because...
South African doctor leads pioneering US surgery on baby in utero
A pioneering procedure carried out by a South African doctor working in Texas could eventually be performed in South Africa, according to the surgeon...
Germany mulls reimbursing weight-loss drugs costs
In June, France became the first country in the European Union to start reimbursing the costs of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for...
Moderna flu jab cracks FDA nod after earlier dispute
Moderna may be publicly pivoting toward its cancer therapies, but it’s still notching up vaccine approvals, with the Food & Drug Administration last week...
Final UN pandemic declaration draft on the table
The final draft of the Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) was sent to United Nations members last week, but, writes...
Outrage as Trump administration demands hospitals share ER records
A tiny federal agency in the US, tasked with protecting the public from injuries caused by lawnmowers and items like household appliances, is demanding...
Paarl Hospital outpatients department reopens after fire restoration
After a speedy six-month – and R67m – restoration, Paarl Hospital’s Outpatient Department has officially reopened after a devastating fire had caused extensive damage to the...
Pensioners complain about long waits at False Bay Hospital
Elderly patients are having to wait in long queues and endure extended waiting times at False Bay Hospital’s outpatients department, with the local Pensioners...
Mystery death of Gauteng nursing student
Police are investigating the death of a 19-year-old first-year nursing student at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Nursing College in Soweto, whose body was found...
Aspen clinches deal to produce new once-a-month HIV tablet
In a huge step forward for Aids prevention in Africa, a licensing agreement was recently inked between Aspen Pharmacare and Merck subsidiary MSD, granting...
Crisp clarifies private hospitals registration confusion
Acting Health DG Nicholas Crisp has issued notification to provincial departments explaining that private hospitals can still be registered, clarifying their confusion about how...
Older HIV+ adults to overtake younger patients by 2040 – Lancet report
The number of people with HIV worldwide who are 50 or older is likely to almost double by 2040, skyrocketing from 11.5m to 20.2m,...
SIU to probe Gauteng Health circumcision tender
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa to dig into a Gauteng Department of Health tender linked to the...
Illicit weight-loss drug market out of control in SA
The “deluge” of unregistered weight loss medication is spiralling, with compounding versions of the drug continuing to sell like hot cakes in gyms, beauty...
Charlotte Maxeke shortages put patients at risk, says insider
Patient care has been compromised recently at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, despite the reassurances and denials from Gauteng Health, according to an insider, who...
Preventable blindness still a major challenge in Africa, says specialist
One of Africa’s biggest eye health challenges is avoidable blindness, a leading eye specialist told TimesLIVE, warning that although South Africa is making progress...
Man dies of drug toxicity after quitting smoking
A British patient on anti-psychotic drugs died in October 2025 from fatal clozapine toxicity after he suddenly stopped smoking, reports the BBC, with concerns...
Explosive mpox outbreak batters Madagascar
More than 3 000 cases of mpox have been recorded in Madagascar after the virus spread from a single port city to some of...
Uganda declares its Ebola-free status, as Congo cases keep rising
Authorities in Uganda declared the country free of Ebola last week after the discharge of the country’s last patient in mid-June – as the virus continues...
Australian doctors threaten to strike
Public hospital doctors in the Australian state of Victoria voted to begin industrial action after the government failed to meet their demands on issues...
Migrants’ healthcare under the spotlight again as new hospital opens
The thorny question of who should pay for foreign nationals’ healthcare has been raised again, this time at the opening by President Cyril Ramaphosa...
Measles cases reach 35-year high in United States
America has already recorded 2 295 measles cases this year, a number not seen since 1991, according to new data published on the Johns...
Nigerian doctors flag dire shortage of medical schools
The Nigeria Medical Association has warned that the shortage of healthcare professionals and personnel is a crisis, urging the local government in the state...
HIV 2030 target unlikely, as funding crisis pummels global Aids response
The chances of the world ending Aids as a public health threat by 2030 are looking increasingly remote, according to concerned global health experts...