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News Update
Down Syndrome man’s liver transplant inspires donor campaign
When Jan-Herman Els, a young athlete and swimmer with Down Syndrome, underwent a successful liver transplant, it raised important questions for healthcare professionals, families...
Pro-bono surgery marathon to slash Frere Hospital backlog
Life Beacon Bay Hospital, one of the biggest private healthcare facilities in KuGompo (East London), is collaborating with Frere Hospital – which provides the...
Mpumalanga clamps down on stolen abortion pill sales
Illegal providers of abortion pills in Mpumalanga are under scrutiny as health authorities launch measures at state facilities to stem the theft of medicines,...
Union vows to fight Adcock Ingram layoffs
The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa) plans to oppose Adcock Ingram’s proposed retrenchments and closure at its Clayville, Johannesburg plant, despite...
Global commission calls for youth-focused drug policy reform
The Global Commission on Drug Policy is urging countries to replace criminal penalties with accessible health services, social support and health services, saying that...
COHSASA awards accreditation to six healthcare facilities
Half a dozen top notch healthcare facilities in South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana and Uganda have just received accreditation awards from COHSASA, marking measurable progress...
Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes plotting biotech comeback
Silicon Valley swindler Elizabeth Holmes – founder of Theranos – is already plotting a comeback from her Texas prison camp, despite being only three...
US doctor sued 700 patients for debts – 81 arrested
Hundreds of US patients were sued by obstetrician-gynaecologist Dr Roger Marshall of Kansas – now a senator – for outstanding bills, and routinely charged...
Kenya’s nurses sign deal to end strike
A 43-day nurses’ strike in Kenya that paralysed public hospitals has ended after the government and the nurses’ union signed a return-to-work agreement, reports...
British influencer dies after Bangkok penis enlargement
Thai authorities have launched an investigation into the death of a British man who died after receiving a penis enlargement injection at a Bangkok...
Arizona joins lawsuits against L’Oreal SA over hair relaxer cancer link
The US state of Arizona has taken legal aim at L’Oreal South Africa and its US subsidiary, alleging the cosmetics company hid evidence that...
Court overturns HPCSA ruling on Israel social media post
A ruling by the Health Professions Council of SA of unprofessional conduct against former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health Dr Tlaleng...
Exploited, exhausted 'ghost doctors' trapped in 'new apartheid'
For years, hospitals have relied on the unpaid, unprotected labour of trainee-specialists to fill their rosters, but these doctors are reaching a breaking point,...
New HoD job for official linked to Tembisa corruption
A provincial government official linked to the massive fraud scandal at Tembisa Hospital has been appointed head of department for Johannesburg’s Public Safety portfolio,...
Dodgy childhood vaccination data prompts department review
Recently published childhood vaccination figures by the National Department of Health – showing an alarming drop – may have been skewed by inaccurate population numbers...
Study links Sasol pollution to 1 000 deaths annually
A Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air report has revealed that pollution from Sasol’s Secunda plant can be linked to around 1...
Health funders punt mandatory medical aid
The exorbitant cost of medical scheme membership could be reduced by as much as 30% if everyone earning above the tax threshold were required...
Aspen dumps LEN production interest
In a blow to the country’s plans to escalate local production of Gilead’s revolutionary lenacapavir HIV prevention shot, South Africa’s biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer, Aspen...
Cuban training for new batch of SA medical students
A new cohort of 18 young people from disadvantaged communities in Gauteng has been selected to study medicine in Cuba through the controversial Nelson...
Probe into Germiston ‘money-for-post-mortem’ claims
The Gauteng Health Department is investigating claims of extortion and corruption at the Germiston Forensic Pathology Service facility, where officials have been accused of...
Two major drug trial failures for Novartis in a week
In the wake of its high-profile setback in heart disease late last week, Swiss pharma giant Novartis really needed a win, but has flopped...
FDA adds boxed warning for iron replacement jab
A label change has been approved by the FDA for ferric carboxymaltose injection (Injectafer in the US but registered in South Africa as Ferinject...
Rising Covid cases close US schools
Covid-19 cases are continuing to spread in the United States, with a Texas school district being forced to cancel classes last week and highlighting...
WHO says 5 000 more staff needed to tackle the Ebola spread
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread across six provinces, placing severe strain on treatment centres and frontline healthcare staff,...
US teen dies from brain-eating amoeba
A teenager in North Carolina, United States, who was infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba, died last week – the second such death in...
New law to tighten regulation of scientists
The plan to force some South African scientists to register with a professional body could protect people and the environment, but the current version...
Acrimonious Medicross feud settled after doctor axed
Documents from a case that was settled out of court, with a non-disclosure agreement, have revealed the toxic situation that developed at a practice...
Crucial medicine shortages being managed, says KZN Health
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health says that despite global supply-chain pressures having a huge impact on local essential medication stock, and resulting in shortages,...
New option for KZN students with West Indies medical school deal
With medical school places for South Africans notoriously being at a premium, an academic affiliation agreement clinched recently will create new pathways for local...
New Johannesburg ambulances unused, parked for six years
Despite the chronic shortage of emergency services vehicles countrywide, 41 ambulances bought by the City of Johannesburg – for a total of R16m –...
Parliament to probe GEMS boss suspension
A multi-departmental parliamentary meeting is expected to be held over the precautionary suspension last week of Dr Stan Moloabi, principal officer of the Government...
Gauteng Health warns against bribes, hospital queue-jumping
A warning has been issued to both staff and the public by the Gauteng Department of Health that anyone asking for money to help...
Unvaccinated infant rates triple in SA
The Department of Health says continually plummeting vaccination rates have contributed to the rise in measles infections countrywide, with 3 462 laboratory-confirmed cases recorded...
Novartis CAR T trials halted after three deaths
Three patients died in Novartis trials of its CD19-directed CAR T treatment after a dangerous immune system response, and a similar therapy from Bristol...
Spanish agency slammed for menopause guide based on male studies
Complaints from several women researchers have prompted the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) to review its recent report on diet and...
Raging Ebola hobbled by funding issues and misinformation
The response to the Congo’s fast-spreading Ebola epidemic has been hampered by a severe lack of funding and pervasive misinformation, according to people on...
Legal dilemmas as Australian surrogate has twins with different parents
In a case so rare it has not yet been contemplated by Queensland surrogacy laws, a woman gave birth to twin children with separate...
French court links flight attendant’s cancer to cosmic radiation
A former air stewardess for Air France has been victorious in her quest to have her breast cancer acknowledged as arising from her job,...
Zanzibar, US in billion-dollar health pact discussions
Zanzibar’s Ministry of Health has held talks with the United States Embassy in Tanzania on the implementation of a health-sector co-operation agreement between Tanzania...
South Africans urged to register as organ donors as demand rises
The Gauteng Department of Health is appealing to South Africans to sign up as organ and tissue donors and to talk openly with their...