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News Update
Contractor linked to Health DG bribery claims wins dodgy hospital tender
The hospital contract at the centre of graft allegations against Department of Health DG Sandile Buthelezi was awarded in highly suspicious circumstances, reports Daily...
Gauteng’s compulsory teen contraception slammed as 'unlawful'
A plan by Gauteng Health & Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko to roll out compulsory contraceptive implants for schoolgirls across the province has run into...
SA’s medical aid members at tipping point, AfriForum warns
Rising medical aid costs and the possible end to tax credits on medical aid contributions could be the breaking point for many South Africans,...
Frustrated locals shut down ‘decaying’ Limpopo clinic
Fed up with a lack of action from Limpopo’s Health Department, which has been accused of not taking the community seriously, angry residents barricaded...
‘Bionic eye’ surgeries at Tygerberg gives the gift of sight
After being blind for years, two patients recently each received an artificial cornea at Tygerberg Hospital, and specialists say that thanks to private sponsor...
Ugandan nurse dies in first Ebola outbreak in two years
A nurse in Uganda has died of Ebola in the first recorded fatality since the country’s last outbreak of the disease ended in early 2023, a...
NHS opens teenage vaping clinic
In the first of its kind in England, the NHS has opened a stop-vaping clinic for Liverpool teenagers in efforts to curb the rise...
Pretoria clinic guard shot during break-in
A female security guard working at Hercules Clinic in Pretoria was shot and injured during an attempt by robbers to gain access into a...
Disability Data Initiative launches dataset to advance disability rights
The Disability Data Initiative (DDI) has launched two pioneering databases to address one of the most significant barriers to disability inclusion: the lack of...
Medical aids turn to court in long-running battle for low cost options
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) will go to court in efforts to legally compel the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) to allow cheaper...
SAMA writes to President as more jobless doctors protest
A group of 150 or so unemployed KwaZulu-Natal doctors staged a sit-in outside the provincial Health Department’s headquarters in Pietermaritzburg on Monday, warning that...
Eastern Cape doctors dig in their heels over no overtime pay
As the health system risks buckling under the pressure of budget constraints, Eastern Cape doctors are now refusing to work additional overtime without compensation.
They...
Blow to BHF over collective pricing and PMBs
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has been unsuccessful in attempts to get the Competition Commission to allow its members to collectively negotiate with...
Community health workers to be made permanent
The Johannesburg Labour Court has ruled that community health workers who have been employed by the National Department of Health for years on recurring...
NICD issues diphtheria alert
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has issued an alert on respiratory diphtheria, which it says has been present since 2024, particularly in...
PwC probes multimillion oxygen plants project
A forensic investigation is to be carried out by PwC – which has been appointed by the Department of Public Works – into the...
SIU seeks R33.4m from SANDF-Cuban deal for useless drug
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) aims to recover R33.4m the SANDF handed over to the Cuban Government for the “immune-boosting” drug Interferon alfa-2b during...
USA rejoins anti-abortion group
The United States plans to rejoin an international anti-abortion pact alongside countries like Uganda, Saudi Arabia and Belarus, with the Trump administration taking its...
Green light from FDA for breast cancer treatment
The Food & Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for American patients with a common form of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the...
CIA about-turn on Covid-19 origin
In a change of mindset, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has said it was more likely that a laboratory leak caused the Covid-19 pandemic...
Moderna gets millions for mRNA jab against future pandemics
In the final days of the Biden administration, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $590m to Moderna to expedite development...
Call for security at 24-hour clinics to be in-sourced
Clinics operating on a 24-hour basis should have in-sourced security, with surveillance cameras and panic buttons, Denosa President Simon Hlungwani says, calling on government...
Australian state psychiatrists resign en masse
Years of unresolved staff shortages and under-resourcing drove more than half of all psychiatrists working in public mental health in Australia’s largest state to...
EU plan to ban ‘forever chemicals’ in consumer products
The European Commission wants to ban PFAS – “forever chemicals” – in consumer products, with exemptions for essential industrial uses, although the agency admits...
Coca-Cola drinks recall in Europe amid safety fears
A large recall has been issued across Europe for Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and other soft drinks because of safety fears, after the discovery of...
Mthatha doctor’s arrest linked to tax evasion
An Mthatha doctor is to appear in court on 6 February after his arrest this week in connection with allegations of fraud and contravention of...
Watchdog alert over FDA’s fast-track drug approvals
A new report from the US Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Inspector General has raised concerns about the FDA’s accelerated approval...
KZN Health to insource vital services
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has announced that various services – like security, cleaning, kitchen work and gardening – will now be insourced at all...
US bans Red No 3 dye, flags cancer links
The US has banned the use of a synthetic red food dye that gives some sweets, cakes and certain oral medications a cherry-red colour,...
Damning report on collapsing NHS conditions
A devastating 460-page dossier compiled by frontline nurses has laid bare the shocking reality of conditions in Britain’s NHS hospitals, where dead patients lie...
Bloodletting advised for islanders to reduce PFAS levels
‘Bloodletting’ has been recommended to residents of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, as a way to reduce high concentrations of “forever chemicals” in...
WHO launches $1.5bn plea for global health crises
An urgent appeal has been issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which needs funds to support global lifesaving interventions to tackle unparalleled health...
Sacked UK doctor with PTSD awarded £100 000 compensation
A doctor at Lister Hospital, just outside London, who had PTSD and was unfairly dismissed, has been awarded more than £100 000 in compensation,...
Tanzania denies Marburg outbreak after WHO alert
A World Health Organisation (WHO) report of a suspected new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in Tanzania were false alarms, according to officials...
SA women allege Pfizer knew about contraceptive tumour risk
Four South African women who used Pfizer’s Depo-Provera for decades blame the injectable contraceptive for causing them to develop brain tumours, but the company...
Man in court for rape of clinic nurses
Limpopo Health MEC authorities have called for an urgent investigation after a man appeared in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court this week in connection with...
Clicks expands pharmacies after court ruling
Clicks has opened 11 new pharmacies since November, the goal being 40 to 50 new locations during this financial year, the group said this...
Premier issues order to hire doctors
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has ordered his Health Department to start recruiting jobless doctors within six weeks, after around 170 unemployed doctors delivered...
FDA adds Guillain-Barre alert for RSV jabs
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety alert linking possible Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) with two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines...
Night shift nurses raped at Limpopo clinic
Limpopo police have launched a massive manhunt after two nurses, on night duty at a local clinic, were abducted at gunpoint and then raped...