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News Update
Durban nurse suspended after viral video
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has condemned a video on social media showing a nurse bullying a patient at King Dinuzulu Hospital, and placed...
Industry buoyed by promised hike for medicine price cap
After a major meeting last week with various pharmaceutical bodies, including the Pharmaceutical Task Group (PTG), the government has committed to considering an “extraordinary”...
Eastern Cape police arrest trio in illicit anxiety medicines bust
Three men arrested for allegedly dealing illegally in controlled medication appeared in two separate courts in Nelson Mandela Bay last week after being nabbed...
New Bill punts changes for MPs’ medical aid
Compulsory membership of the (expensive) parliamentary medical scheme, Parmed, is being reconsidered by the National Assembly, and may be replaced with voluntary membership, reports...
Probe after Helen Joseph patient complaint
Johannesburg’s Helen Joseph Hospital has initiated an investigation after a video posted on social media by a patient claimed the hospital is chaotic and...
Eastern Cape ambulance crisis at breaking point, warn staff, union
EMS workers and their union in the Eastern Cape say their ambulance fleet is so depleted that only a handful of vehicles is available...
Concern over Cape hospice inpatient unit closure
A Cape Town NPO that provides palliative and hospice care to people with life-threatening illnesses is being urged by former staff and volunteers to...
Jozini hospital gets multi-million-rand upgrade
KwaZulu-Natal is investing R359m in upgrading Mosvold Hospital in uMkhanyakude as the province ramps up its efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure in rural communities,...
New military hospital finally officially opens
The brand new R625m Forest Hill Military Base Hospital in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, was officially opened last week, one of only four such facilities...
Surge in cervical cancer screenings in Cape Town
Health authorities in Cape Town said they are encouraged by the rise in cervical cancer screening tests at local health facilities, the figures having...
FDA approves drug to treat HIV in newborns
The FDA has approved dolutegravir (Tivicay PD; ViiV Healthcare) tablets for oral suspension for the treatment of HIV infection in newborns from birth to...
Novo’s weekly insulin jabs hit the market
Novo Nordisk is launching its first-of-its-kind weekly insulin dose for type 2 diabetes, offering greater convenience and less pain, but the downside of the...
France green-lights ‘aid in dying’ Bill
France has finally, after years of debate, approved legislation granting incurably ill adults the right to assisted dying, with the text being approved by the...
Motsoaledi off sick, acting Minister fills in
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, on sick leave for a month – illness undisclosed – will be temporarily replaced by Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams,...
KZN nursing college notches up NQF Level 8 degree approval
The KZN College of Nursing has achieved a major milestone after receiving approval for its Bachelor of Nursing degree at NQF Level 8 from...
First mpox cases in Guinea-Bissau
The small West African country of Guinea-Bissau is facing its first-ever mpox outbreak, with children accounting for half of the 46 suspected cases, reports...
Nigeria to decriminalise attempted suicide
Nigeria, which has a crippling shortage of mental health professionals – fewer than 1 000 psychiatrists serving more than 200m people – says it...
Harvard to fork out $53m for sales of donated corpses
Harvard University has been ordered to pay $53m to settle a class-action suit brought by families claiming an imprisoned former morgue manager at the...
Cipla and Health Department in legal showdown over ARV tender
Officials from the Department of Health have denied claims of flawed processes and collusive bidding linked to its controversial HIV drugs tender and in...
Black pharma slams market exclusion, lack of state support
The Black Pharmaceutical Industry Association (BPIA), which says less than 1% of the domestic market is held by black-owned firms, has added its voice...
Jobless doctors could solve excess workload crisis, says union
Chronic staffing shortages are adding huge pressure to South Africa’s already over-burdened public health sector, and unions say that unemployed doctors could plug the gaps and...
SAHPRA recalls batches of BP meds
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) is recalling four batches of Arya Enalapril 10mg, commonly used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension).
The...
Eastern Cape Health ignores thousands of supplier invoices
The Health Department in the Eastern Cape failed to pay 2 340 invoices within 30 days – worth a staggering R161.9m – with 48%...
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...