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News Update
Weight loss drug trial suggests significant heart benefit
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has announced that its increasingly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy also showed clear cardiovascular benefits in a recent large study, which has...
Western Cape taxi strike disrupts healthcare services
The violent Western Cape taxi strike that started a week ago has pulverised the provincial healthcare system, with staff unable to get to work,...
Gqeberha physiotherapist stabbed to death
Police are investigating a case of murder after a popular Gqeberha physiotherapist was stabbed in the early hours of yesterday, and later died from...
Updated US guidelines for colorectal cancer screenings
Asymptomatic, average-risk adults are encouraged to start screening at 50 for colorectal cancer, and to stop screening after 75, according to updated guidelines from the American College of...
Palliative patients struggle for life through load shedding
For patients in palliative care, the battle to stay alive has become even harder because of load shedding, and experts warn that the energy...
Psychiatric patients overload Eastern Cape health services
The growing list of mental health patients in the Eastern Cape is overwhelming the system, compounding the already chronic bed shortage, poor services, infrastructure...
Foreigners still being denied healthcare in Gauteng, activists say
A woman who was originally from the DRC and who gave birth at Steve Biko Academic Hospital three years ago has been unable to...
FDA warning after recall of contraceptive pill batches
Two lots of an oral contraceptive pill have been recalled in the US, with the FDA warning these may have reduced effectiveness and resulted...
UK spike in new Covid variant cases
Covid-19 infections are steadily on the rise in Britain, with a new variant – the Eris strain, technically called EG.5.1 – now making up...
Unique mental health challenges for SA’s youth
Just like millions of young people worldwide, South African youth face significant mental health challenges, due to shared experiences like economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability...
Deadly TB outbreak in US linked to tainted bone grafts
An outbreak of tuberculosis linked to contaminated bone graft material has killed one person and infected at least four others, say American health officials,...
US woman dies from drinking too much water
In a relatively rare occurrence, an American mother of two died last month after drinking too much water too quickly during a scorching hot...
Experts warn against risky castor oil TikTok fad
The latest dangerous social media craze has TikTokkers rubbing castor oil into the eyes to promote eye health, but specialists warn that the risks...
‘Poison in every puff’ – Canada’s new cigarette warnings
In efforts to deter young people from smoking, and to encourage others to give up, from next year, Canada will become the first country...
Medicines price rise thumbs-up from Phaahla
Lobbying by South African pharmaceutical manufacturers has won them a second price
increase for private sector medicine sales this year, with Health Minister Dr Joe...
Priciest cancer drugs bumped off WHO’s medicines list
Several exorbitantly priced medicines, including some breast and lung cancer drugs, have been excluded from the updated Essentials Medicines List (EML) and Essential Medicines...
Hospital union to seek action after stockouts, no water for five years
Healthcare workers at Bethesda Hospital in the village of Ubombo, about four hours from Durban, have slammed conditions at the facility after enduring five...
Experts call for hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine
Despite one in 20 South Africans being infected with the hepatitis B virus – which causes about 820 000 deaths a year globally and...
Professor Glenda Gray to step down as SAMRC head
South African Medical Research Council president and chief executive Professor Glenda Gray is stepping down to take up a full-time scientific role after a...
Obesity rates behind new WHO guidelines on fat and carbs
Worldwide obesity has tripled since 1975, with, for example, more than 340m children and adolescents aged five to 19 being overweight or having obesity...
US agency launches ‘overdue’ long Covid clinical trials
The US National Institutes of Health is launching four clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of potential long Covid treatments, with seven...
Flood of responses to food labelling regulations
More than 12 000 submissions have been collected and submitted by health activists at the Community Media Trust and the Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA)...
Another Indian drugmaker linked to toxic cough syrups
Yet another Indian drugmaker has been linked to lethal cough syrups – and directed to stop operating – making it the fourth in the...
Australian Ministers urged to probe unsafe hospitals, inept bosses and bullying claims
The issue of maltreatment and neglect of mental health patients – and their facilities – is not just endemic to South Africa, it appears....
SA putting plans in place to cope with more pandemics, says Phaahla
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has, in reply to a parliamentary question, given the assurance that SA is initiating measures to protect the country...
DA calls for asbestos issues at Gauteng hospitals to be addressed
Eight hospital and six clinics in Gauteng – including Chris Hani Baragwanath and Tambo Memorial Hospital – have asbestos exposure issues, with which the...
Netcare CEO to retire next year
Long-serving Netcare CEO Richard Friedland will take early retirement from the end of September 2024, South Africa’s biggest network of private hospitals announced last...
Police use social media to bust kidney-selling ring
Police in Jakarta are investigating the illegal trade of human organs, involving police and immigration officers who were accused of helping traffickers send 122...
Task team to resolve Hillbrow mortuary backlog
With bodies piling up at Hillbrow mortuary, and hundreds of desperate families waiting weeks to claim and bury their loved ones’ bodies, Gauteng Health...
Bara’s surgery backlog spirals after flood damage unfixed
Burst pipes and extensive water damage after flooding at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital a week ago have led to the scrapping of elective surgery...
HJI goes to court to access vaccine supply records
Judgment was reserved this week in the Gauteng High Court case in which the Health Justice Initiative (HJI) had asked for an order instructing...
UK reviews weight-loss drugs after 'suicidal thoughts'
Britain is reviewing a class of drugs used in a diabetes medicine and a weight-loss treatment sold by Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) after some patients...
Imported cholera case identified in Durban
A third positive imported cholera case has been identified in Durban, according to Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla, who said the 24-year-old patient had...
Paramedics hijacked, robbed in Pretoria
Two paramedics are receiving counselling after being hijacked, assaulted and robbed while responding to an apparent distress call in Pretoria.
The assailants used their bank...
Thousands of Gauteng patients catch hospital infections
Hospital infections, mostly due to poor infection control measures, affected nearly 8 000 Gauteng patients last year, most of them at Chris Hani Baragwanath,...
Lack of supplies and care for desperate SA stoma patients
The ongoing shortage of colostomy pouches in the public health system, where some desperate patients resort to plastic bags glued and taped to their...
North West struggles with medicines shortage
A chronic shortage of medication has been ongoing for months in North West public health facilities, according to the recently released third edition of...
Lack of ICU beds in Gauteng puts newborns at risk
A shortage of nearly 100 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds in Gauteng hospitals is risking babies’ lives, especially premature and sickly infants.
The worst...
Digital Vibes graft accused closes testimony without calling witnesses
Digital Vibes corruption accused Lizeka Tonjeni is sticking to her story that part of the R160 000 deposited into her account was payment for...
Surging malnutrition data under-reported, say experts
An extra 6 000 children a year have gone hungry since Covid-19 and food price increases, but experts say reported figures are probably grossly...