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News Update
Un flags increase in young people with mental disorders
According to alarming statistics from the United National Children’s Fund (Unicef), one in seven young people between 10 and 19 lives with a diagnosable...
Raid uncovers illegal sale of scheduled meds
The Gauteng Department of Health has sounded the alarm after a raid uncovered the illegal sale of scheduled medication at several establishments in the...
PMB hospital gets world-class award for quality stroke care
Netcare St Anne’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg has been recognised with top-level Diamond status by the World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Angels Initiative for its role in...
Companies partner to create secure health records from birth
Parents can now effortlessly establish a lifelong medical record for their children right from birth, thanks to a collaboration between Ajuda, a personal digital...
More suspected poisonings after death of 10-year-old girl
A 10-year-old girl died and her four-year-old sibling and mother are in a critical condition in Edenvale Hospital, Gauteng, after another case of suspected...
Nineteen-day wait for emergency op in KwaZulu-Natal hospital
The plight of a Northern KwaZulu-Natal man who fell through a roof and broke his femur echoes the stories of thousands of patients who...
Gugulethu locals fed-up with waiting for new hospital
Residents in Gugulethu are demanding that the Western Cape Department of Health expedite plans to build a new hospital in the area, accusing it...
FDA approves new oral drug for UTIs, despite concerns
A new oral antibiotic has cracked the nod from the FDA for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections, despite the agency’s reviewers voicing...
Baby powder recalled after suspected asbestos link
Another baby powder in the US has made the news after the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced an expanded recall of a range...
DRC fights mpox-measles co-infections
Africa’s mpox situation is being complicated by measles co-infections in children in two Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provinces, say officials from the...
WHO lists top endemic pathogens urgently needing new vaccines
A World Health Organisation (WHO) study published this week in The Lancet’s eBioMedicine names 17 pathogens – that regularly cause diseases in communities –...
Teens’ anxiety, depression, rises after four hours’ screen time, say experts
Teenagers who spend four or more hours in front of the screen each day are more likely to experience anxiety and depression, according to a new report from...
UK identifies first cases of imported clade 1b mpox
After identifying the first case of the new mpox variant clade Ib in the UK last week, authorities have now detected another two cases...
Triplets becoming less common in the US
Giving birth to triplets, quadruplets or even more has become increasingly less common in the United States, the decline being particularly noticeable in mothers...
Health bus on fire with 52 patients onboard
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has launched an investigation after a patient transport vehicle caught fire on Monday while transporting 52 patients along the...
AstraZeneca China operations boss under investigation
AstraZeneca says its China operations president Leon Wang is under investigation but has not clarified whether he is being detained or what the probe...
Court injunction stops Canadian woman’s scheduled euthanasia
A Canadian woman – who had scheduled an assisted suicide for 27 October – had her plan blocked when a British Columbian judge issued...
SAHPRA approves bid for unregistered cancer drug
Umhlanga cancer patient Ina Requilet finally has access to potentially life-saving medication after the health regulator approved a treatment not yet registered in South...
‘Ghost company’ bags R428m oxygen plants tender
In a scenario reminiscent of the dodgy Digital Vibes scandal, unknown, obscure, apparently unaccredited private contractors have been appointed to install oxygen plants at...
Drugmaker recalls anxiety medicines over cancer concerns
A recall has been issued for thousands of bottles of the medicine duloxetine because they may contain a potentially cancer-causing agent, according to the US...
TB back as world's deadliest infectious disease
TB was the leading cause of infectious disease-related deaths in 2023 – reclaiming its title which had been replaced by Covid-19 for three years...
Power cut at KZN Health HQ over hospital’s R6m bill
Pietermaritzburg’s acting city manager Nelly Ngcobo and a convoy of vehicles from the local Msunduzi municipal electricity department descended on Grey’s Hospital on Monday...
Health Committee pushes ahead with Tobacco Bill
Parliament’s Health Portfolio Committee is going ahead with processing the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill despite concerns about the lack of...
Novo seeks FDA ban on compounded Ozempic
Novo Nordisk has asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent compounding pharmacies from manufacturing their own versions of the company’s weight...
Union slams conditions at Eastern Cape mortuaries
The Public Servants Association (PSA) has urged Eastern Cape Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa to urgently tackle the shocking state of state mortuaries and ensure...
MPs call for Health Department to recoup foreigner nationals' medical expenses
Parliament’s Health Committee wants the Department of Health to consider recouping money spent on treating foreign nationals at state facilities, saying, after reviewing the...
UK private healthcare thriving while NHS flounders
British patients are increasingly flocking to private providers for their healthcare as the National Health Service (NHS) buckles under lengthy waiting lists, which have...
Community health workers protest for full-time jobs
Community health workers picketed outside the Labour Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday where their employment status is being litigated, saying they have been fighting...
Probe at KZN hospital after patient set herself alight
KwaZulu-Natal Health is investigating the death of a woman (41) last week who died after setting herself on fire at Clairwood Hospital, with the...
UK’s disposable vape ban coming next year
Britain is to enforce its ban on disposable vapes next year, with new laws giving suppliers a deadline of 1 June 2025 to dump...
Freeze on equipment outlays as Gauteng budget falters
Gauteng Health has halted the procurement of all new equipment with immediate effect, further crippling state hospitals already constrained by various shortages, including staff.
A...
Tygerberg faces C-section backlog crisis
The backlog of pregnant women awaiting elective Caesareans at Tygerberg Hospital’s maternity ward has increased, according to staff, who say that while the waiting...
Regulator rules for medical aid members in more than 50% of disputes
The Council for Medical Schemes has said that in the past financial year, it found in favour of more than 50% of members who...
Health inspector army seeks ‘chemical agent’ tied to food poisonings
The Department of Health is dispensing 80 environmental health inspectors to search for “chemical agents” believed to be responsible for a rash of apparent...
SAHPRA pleads for increased funding
SA’s medicines regulator has again appealed to National Treasury for more funding, saying its increasing reliance on fee income puts it in a precarious...
Fake medicines trade flourishing in KZN
Organised crime networks are continuing to do a roaring trade in counterfeit pharmaceutical products smuggled into South Africa and into the hands of desperate...
Emergency personnel may be linked to ambulances sabotage
Mpumalanga authorities are investigating claims that some Health Department staff deliberately damaged ambulances in acts of sabotage, rendering them unusable.
The province is already desperately...
Health Squared members unlikely to retrieve savings after liquidation
While it is still unclear if members of Health Squared Medical Scheme – which was placed in final liquidation in February 2023 – will...
Bloemfontein morgue closed for health, safety reasons
After receiving numerous complaints, the Department of Employment & Labour has closed a government mortuary in Bloemfontein until further notice for violating the Occupational...
Manager jailed after medical supplies fraud ring bust
A logistics manager at a company subcontracted to supply medical equipment to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban has been sentenced to eight...