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News Update
Millions spent on guarding abandoned hospital
A derelict and vandalised hospital that has stood empty for nearly 30 years is costing the Gauteng Department of Health R750 000 per annum...
Concerns grow over lenacapavir price transparency
South Africa may be able to start rolling out the twice-yearly anti-HIV drug lenacapavir (LEN) in January 2026 – three months earlier than planned...
Calls for urgent health reform at inaugural Ombud conference
Lives are being lost, and more placed at risk as legal bickering and challenges continue around the NHI Act, but, says Netcare Group CEO...
Probe after fire engulfs SA’s largest medical waste plant
Biohazard concerns and questions about nearby communities’ health and safety have been raised after a massive blaze that gutted South Africa’s largest medical waste...
Council warns against fraudulent nurse certification
The South African Nursing Council (SANC) has issued an urgent warning to employers, nurses and the public regarding fake SANC Registration Certificates, Annual Practising...
Boats, Bentleys and buildings seized in Tembisa probe asset haul
The probe into the web of corruption linked to Tembisa Hospital, triggered by whistleblower Babita Deokaran, is showing results, with the National Prosecuting Authority...
More children obese than underweight – Unicef
Unicef has warned governments to protect children’s diets from unhealthy ingredients and to stop the ultra-processed food industry from interfering in policy decisions –...
Court rejects Mkhize's delay bid in Digital Vibes case
Former Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize was unsuccessful last week in his bid to delay the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) case pending his High...
Suspended nurse claims victimisation for reporting abuse
A Gauteng nurse, who previously accused Clicks Pharmacy’s management of ill-treating her for reporting sexual harassment, has been suspended for breaching company ethics by...
WHO ends mpox public health emergency, Africa CDC extends it
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had ended the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) for mpox outbreaks in Africa, reports CIDRAP, but the...
Nigerian doctors down tools over pay, welfare issues
Frontline doctors in Nigeria's public hospitals began a five-day strike last Friday over unpaid allowances and unresolved welfare concerns, their union said.
Kazeem Odumbaku, secretary...
Ebola vaccination campaign kicks off in southern DRC
Vaccination for people exposed to the Ebola virus and frontline health workers has begun in southern Kasai province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo,...
Botswana resolves medical supplies crisis
The Botswana Government says progress has been made in getting medicines to various parts of the country – this after President Duma Boko’s declaration...
Lenacapavir to be rolled out via Pepfar to selected countries
The news that the US Government has made a pre-market commitment to purchase the twice-yearly highly effective injectible drug lenacapavir from Gilead Sciences for...
Aspen banks on Mounjaro as workers face the chop
Aspen Pharmacare, South Africa’s largest pharmaceutical company, is awaiting regulatory approval to roll out diabetic drug Mounjaro for weight loss, but the bad news is...
Gauteng Health owes R5.1bn to suppliers
Thousands of businesses providing services to the Gauteng Department of Health are in a precarious position, with hundreds of jobs at risk after the department’s...
SADAG SOS for financial aid
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group’s (SADAG) vital crisis helpline, which assists thousands of people struggling with mental health issues, needs R180 000...
Groote Schuur appeals for R100m to open new centre
Groote Schuur Hospital, home to one of the busiest emergency centres in the Western Cape, desperately needs R100m in donations to help equip and...
Free State doctor, grandson charged with murder for farm shooting
Dr Koos Troskie (80), who with his teenaged grandson has been accused of killing and burying a man in a shallow grave in Kroonstad...
Emergency services desperate as shortages cripple sector
South African lives are being lost – and thousands more put at risk – as the dire shortage of ambulances and paramedics continues to...
Hard reality of Trump’s aid cuts in east Africa – 100 days later
Aid cuts in east Africa have resulted in some babies being born with HIV because mothers could not get medication, a rise in life-threatening infections, and...
New tests for 55 000 UK diabetes patients after diagnostic error
At least 55 000 patients in England will be needing further blood tests after errors made by machines used to diagnose diabetes, a BBC...
GLP-1 drugs now on WHO’s essential medicines list
GLP-1 drugs to treat diabetes as well as treatments for cystic fibrosis and cancer have been added to the World Health Organisation’s essential medicines...
FDA approves J&J’s non-surgical bladder cancer treatment
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Johnson & Johnson’s drug delivery system for a type of bladder cancer, offering a potential surgery-free option...
US pig kidney man ‘doing well’ as transplant trials due to start
A 54-year-old American is the latest to get an experimental pig kidney transplant, at a crucial point in the quest to prove if animals'...
Former US Surgeon-General calls for sacking of Kennedy
Jerome Adams, who served as US Surgeon-General during President Donald Trump’s first administration, is calling for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy...
EU bans gel nail polish ingredient over fertility concerns
The European Union has banned a key ingredient in gel nail polish, with all 27 EU member states now being prohibited from using or...
US doctor arrested after text linked to child sex
A Michigan doctor has been arrested by the United States Marshals Service in the aftermath of a police investigation involving the solicitation of a...
Minister has eye surgery at Bara clinic
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has successfully undergone an optical procedure at Baragwanath Hospital’s St John Eye Clinic, apparently after several months on the...
Stellenbosch University opens high-tech morphology centre
Africa’s largest and most advanced Medical Morphology Learning Centre (MMLC), which was opened at Stellenbosch University last month, will move beyond traditional teaching methods...
Kenyan Health Ministry cracks down on rampant fraud
The Kenyan Ministry of Health is determined to clean up the healthcare system, recently handing over 1 188 case files and supporting evidence to...
Mkhize implicated in new Digital Vibes evidence
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been given court approval to introduce new evidence allegedly exposing how former Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, his...
Doctors flag crippling cuts at major Durban hospital
Doctors have blown the whistle about a crisis at one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most important public hospitals, saying it is functioning far under capacity due...
Chronic staff shortages add to growing mental healthcare burden
The public sector averages just 0.31 psychiatrists per 100 000 people, with far fewer in remote areas, with lack of specialised facilities, collapsing infrastructure...
Dora Nginza staff down tools over unpaid overtime – again
Nurses and support staff at Dora Nginza Hospital in the Eastern Cape, who have been on a wildcat strike for a week, have apologised...
Bed linen crisis hits Bara patients
Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital is struggling with yet another bed linen crisis, leaving hundreds of patients without basic bedding necessities and contributing to...
Gauteng Health flags organ donor scarcity in SA
The critical shortage of organ donors is unlikely to improve unless more people become donors, with Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko warning that at...
Wits team joins global mosquito observatory in malaria fight
In a collaborative drive, Wits University researchers have partnered in the continent’s first interconnected mosquito observatory network, VectorGrid-Africa, which has also launched in Tanzania,...
Limited African genetics research impacts research
Of all the human genomes that have been sequenced thus far, only 2% come from Africa, according to geneticist Veron Ramsuran, highlighting the limitations...
Malawi low on TB drugs
Malawi is running out of tuberculosis drugs, with health officials warning that stocks will dry up by the end of September – this just...