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News Update
Senior Eastern Cape Health official on drunk driving charges
The Eastern Cape Health Department’s deputy director-general (DDG) for HR and Corporate Services, Nwabisa Mavuso, was released on R1 000 bail last week after...
Health DG probed after R500 000 bribery allegations
Allegations that Dr Sandile Buthelezi, director-general of the National Department of Health, used health employees, contractors and companies to solicit and conceal a R500...
How the provinces stack up in state oncology treatment
Depending upon where you live, the wait for cancer treatment at a public facility can be more of a death sentence than the disease...
Department blames pharmacies for delay in Covid vaccines payment
The National Department of Health (NDoH) has blamed non-compliance, poor data capturing and other reasons for 28 pharmacies not being paid for vaccines that...
Eastern Cape to ‘repurpose’ 19 state hospitals
The flailing Eastern Cape Department of Health will “repurpose” 19 small hospitals – those with fewer than 50 beds – in efforts to save...
Tribunal rules R257m PPE contract invalid
A massive R257m personal protective equipment (PPE) contract awarded by Gauteng Health to Nkhane Projects and Supply has been declared invalid by the Special...
Liberty Health to close doors
Liberty Holdings, wholly owned by the Standard Bank Group, has confirmed its health business is shutting up shop after running at a loss for...
Parliament revives tobacco Bill
The Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, first introduced in the National Assembly in 2022, has been dusted off by Parliament...
MDMA therapy rejected by FDA
The US Food & Drug Administration has refused approval for mind-altering MDMA-assisted therapy, recommending instead that American drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics carry out further studies on...
NHS rolls out osteoporosis drug for menopausal women
A new drug that helps prevent bone fractures in women – and increases bone density by stimulating the cells that make new bones –...
Women-led hospital team beats blaze
Staff at a private hospital in Kroonstad, who have been praised for taking the lead in fighting an encroaching veld fire that was heading...
US rolls out flu jab to combat bird flu risk
A major flu vaccine campaign is being launched for US farm workers as concerns mount over the spreading bird flu virus in the agricultural sector, with...
Global call for more pathogen research to prepare for next pandemic
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have urged scientists and political leaders to bolster global research to...
Musk’s second patient gets brain implant chip
Just six months after the first implant, Elon Musk’s Neuralink has successfully implanted a chip into a second paralysed patient’s brain, the procedure having...
Gaza to get 1.2m polio jabs amid outbreak fears
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is planning to send 1.2m polio vaccines to Gaza within the next fortnight after the virus was detected in...
US study flags high vitamin D deficiency rates
Nearly a quarter of the US population is estimated to have a deficiency in vitamin D, particularly black women aged 20 to 29, according to data...
BMA calls for pause on Cass recommendations after doctors' complaints
Nearly 900 doctors have written to the British Medical Association (BMA), expressing “dismay” and disappointment” at the stance taken by the doctors’ union on...
Sizwe Hosmed to launch fraud probe
The Sizwe Hosmed Medical Scheme – placed under statutory management by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) last week because of its shaky finances – is...
Regulator appeals for ‘reasonable’ medical aid hike
SA’s medical schemes regulator has appealed to the industry to limit 2025 contribution increases to the SA Reserve Bank (SARB’s) inflation forecast of 4.4% plus...
Eastern Cape Hospital tensions continue to rise
Services at the once well-functioning Zithulele Hospital are at a crossroads following more protests relating to unhappiness over the appointment two years ago of...
Mpox cases climb to 24 in SA as incidents rise in Africa
The number of mpox cases in South Africa has risen to 24, with another two cases being confirmed at the weekend – in Gauteng...
Gauteng Health fails to spend budget millions – again
Underspending of budgets has critical implications, and Gauteng Health’s failure to spend more than R1.1bn of its 23/24 budget, when there are so many...
UK approves ‘take-home’ blood cancer drug
Blood cancer patients in England are to be offered the first ever ‘take-at-home’ tablet to be approved for treatment, and recommended by the National...
EMA rejects US-approved Alzheimer’s drug
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has rejected a licence for the Alzheimer’s treatment lecanemab (Leqembi), saying the benefits did not counterbalance the risk of serious side...
NHLS back on track after cyber breach
The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) has rebuilt and restored parts of its critical IT infrastructure and systems that were disabled by the recent...
Parolee nabbed for faeces attack on clinic worker
The irate patient accused of emptying a bucket of faeces over an employee at Thabong Clinic in the Free State has been arrested for...
UK boy first kidney patient to have robot surgery
A seven-year-old boy has become the first patient in Britain to undergo robotic surgery for a kidney condition that if left untreated, can lead to loss of kidney...
Nurse suicides linked to probes by ‘toxic’ UK nursing council
The UK nursing regulator’s chair says he will not step down after a damning report revealed that at least 16 nurses have committed suicide...
Australia starts first peanut allergy programme for babies
Babies who have a peanut allergy are now being offered free and potentially life-changing treatment at hospitals across Australia in a world-first programme aimed...
Trust in US doctors plunged in pandemic – and still low, finds survey
A recent survey of more than 400 000 American adults found that during the pandemic, trust in physicians and hospitals decreased sharply, and higher...
Almost 120 000 girls give birth in one year
The number of young girls and teenagers having babies remains constant in South Africa, with more than 2 700 girls aged 10 to 14...
Corpse shortage due to rise in Scottish medical students
Scotland is experiencing a shortage of cadavers because of an increase in the number of students studying medicine, with surgical colleges even having to...
iTOO enters new partnership with indemnity specialist EthiQal
iTOO Special Risks, a speciality risk underwriter, and EthiQal, a medical professional indemnity provider for specialist doctors, have announced an exciting strategic partnership.
This collaboration,...
Prosthetist in court on RAF fraud charges
A Gqeberha prosthetist was arrested and appeared in court last week for allegedly defrauding the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to the tune of R290...
Sizwe Hosmed in financial trouble as other schemes hike prices
Three years after its debut, Sizwe Hosmed Medical Scheme has been placed under statutory management by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), due to...
UK approves weight-loss jab for heart attacks, stroke
British health officials have approved weight-loss drug Wegovy to be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes in overweight people, the first such medication...
FDA green light for colon cancer blood test
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a blood test to be used for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults 45 and older...
Corruption allegations linked to North West hospital tender
A North West businessman’s lawsuit against the provincial Department of Health has exposed claims of corruption in the construction of a multimillion-rand hospital, with...
‘Whistle-blower’ seeks Hawks protection at hearing
A senior health official who blew the whistle on alleged corruption – implicating DG Sandile Buthelezi in a bribe of R500 000 – requested...
Free State patient pours faeces over clinic worker
An employee at Thabong Clinic in the Free State is receiving counselling after being targeted with a bucket of faeces by a disgruntled patient,...