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News Update
Lancet Labs fined for data breach
Numerous high-profile data breaches, leaks and other security incidents had been reported in South Africa in the past year, among them Lancet Laboratories, which...
Groote Schuur doctor’s dismissal over bullying set aside
The Labour Court has overturned an arbitration decision that upheld the dismissal of Dr Kwazi Ndlovu, former head of the Nephrology Unit at Groote...
Twice-yearly anti-HIV jab added to SA’s Essentials Medicines List
The Department of Health’s National Essential Medicines List Committee (NEMLC) has approved the addition of the recently registered injectable anti-HIV drug lenacapavir (LEN-LA) to...
Tembisa official and Hawks man nailed in corruption sting
A Tembisa Hospital official and a sergeant from the Hawks have been charged with corruption and are due to appear in court this week,...
Pretoria specialist hospital flounders with no CEO
Staff at a Pretoria Hospital say that working conditions are deteriorating as they wait for the Gauteng Department of Health to replace the CEO...
Second legal bid to get authorities to act against Dudula vigilantism
Activists have gone to court again to compel the state to stop xenophobic vigilantes from stopping immigrants and undocumented people from accessing health services....
Swiss ‘wearables’ for all Netcare patients
Netcare intends to provide Swiss-made medical wearables to every patient in its general wards to continuously monitor their vital signs and improve outcomes, it...
Fewer HIV deaths but lifestyle disease risks worsen – Discovery
The effectiveness of sustained adherence to anti-retroviral treatment has led to a significant decline in mortality rates among people living with HIV, according to...
Netcare optimistic about boosting nurse-training numbers
Netcare CEO Richard Friedland has said there is a glimmer of hope that the company might finally be able to train more nurses –...
Bogus medical school closed down in Ladysmith
An unregistered facility claiming to be a traditional medicine training school was shut down in the Ladysmith CBD last week – after enrolling hundreds...
Trio convicted in major UK online illegal medicines bust
A major online syndicate involving a multimillion-pound criminal network supplying controlled drugs and unauthorised medicines has been bust wide open by British authorities.
Three people...
UK trials to test puberty blockers in children, young people
Two studies will investigate the impact of puberty blockers in young people with gender incongruence after researchers said an expert view had suggested gender...
Nestlé urged to ban sugar in baby foods
A group of 20 African civil society organisations, including three from South Africa, have written an open letter to Nestlé, demanding the company stop...
G20 leaders pledge $11bn to tackle deadly diseases
Several nations have raised $11.34bn for the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria, with President Cyril Ramaphosa saying that $36m would be...
Measles outbreaks escalate in Western Cape
The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness has escalated its vaccination campaigns, warning of an increase in measles outbreaks in areas like Khayelitsha,...
Rising levels of drug-resistant gonorrhoea worldwide, warns WHO
Gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, warns WHO, citing new data from its Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP), which monitors the spread...
Mediclinic’s pro bono cataract ops slash public facility waiting lists
Cataracts remain one of the leading causes of preventable blindness in South Africa. Without treatment, these can quietly rob people of their independence.
Restoring sight...
Rise in adverse events in Gauteng cause for alarm
Concerned experts have flagged the rising numbers of patients coming to harm in Gauteng’s public hospitals – injuries, permanent disability and deaths – because...
HIV drugs roll-out under threat in court tender row
The National Department of Health has come under legal fire from the SA subsidiary of Indian generic pharmaceutical manufacturer Hetero, which alleges that the...
Push to declare diabetes a public health emergency
Civil society organisations are intensifying calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare diabetes a public health emergency, citing the need for urgent government intervention...
US seeks Africa data access in new aid agreements
The US Government is planning to secure memorandums of understanding (MOU) with African countries that offer limited health aid for five years in exchange...
Budget shortfall may affect KZN medicine supply – DA
The DA has warned that the continual financial slide of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health is likely to increase the risk of medicine shortages...
Gauteng Health HoD suspension ruled valid
The Labour Court has found that the suspension of Gauteng Health HoD Lesiba Arnold Malotana – who had then accused Premier Panyaza Lesufi of...
Court clarifies law on disclosing someone’s HIV status
Disclosing someone’s HIV status publicly constitutes either defamation or breach of privacy, with a Bloemfontein court recently declaring they are independent and distinct actions that must...
Parliament flags dire state of Northern Cape facilities
Chronic conditions in Northern Cape health clinics and hospitals were exposed and highlighted during a three-day parliamentary oversight visit – from crumbling infrastructure and...
Man dies from meat allergy triggered by tick bites
Last year, a previously healthy 47-year-old father collapsed and died in the bathroom of his home, with an autopsy providing no answers. CNN reports...
US-bought birth control for sub-Saharan Africa rots in Belgium
There’s a new twist in the saga of the American-purchased contraceptives intended for sub-Saharan Africa and stuck in Belgium since the Trump administration scaled...
WHO to shed 2 000 jobs
The shock withdrawal of US funding – its main donor – will see the World Health Organisation slashing its staff numbers by nearly a quarter, or...
Woman born without most of her brain turns 20
Doctors told her parents she wasn’t expected to survive past the age of four, but a Nebraska, USA, woman born without cerebral hemispheres celebrated...
TB rates fall for the first time since Covid – WHO report
Global tuberculosis rates fell about 2% in 2024 from the previous year, shows a World Health Organisation report, after rising for three consecutive years...
Beware fake weight-loss products – SAHPRA warning
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has issued a warning regarding GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) products being promoted and sold on social media...
Suppliers linked to Tembisa scandal still not blacklisted
Incredibly, none of the 207 suppliers implicated in the Tembisa Hospital looting sprees has yet been blacklisted, although the National Department of Health has...
US mulls plans to reject obese visitors’ visas
Overweight people applying for visas to America will need to rethink their plans in future, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has instructed...
SA starts ground-breaking clinical trials for oral cholera vaccine
Clinical trials testing the efficacy of the first locally manufactured oral cholera vaccine, developed by Biovac, were officially launched on Tuesday, reports TimesLIVE – which...
Godongwana concerned about plan to dump medical tax credits
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has expressed caution about proposals to phase out medical scheme tax credits to help fund National Health Insurance (NHI), saying...
Outrage as Gauteng Health still uses ‘blacklisted’ firms
Gauteng Health has admitted it lacks the power to blacklist suppliers linked to the R2bn Tembisa Hospital scandal, who continue to do business with...
UKZN medical school admissions graft case back in court
Seven years after being struck off the roll, a corruption case involving a Durban couple, their co-accused, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) medical...
Defiant Operation Dudula to appeal ruling
Operation Dudula will abide by a High Court ruling barring it from its xenophobic actions, and from denying access to public health facilities by...
Backlash after HPCSA fines UN health envoy
The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has been accused of political interference after it found Tlaleng Mofokeng – the UN Special Rapporteur on...
Transgender prisoner wins right to hormone therapy
A transgender prisoner, serving life at Johannesburg Correction Centre, has won the legal right for state-provided hormonal therapy. The Equality Court ruled that “adequate...