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News Update
Nigeria cuts import reliance to produce test kits for HIV, TB, malaria
In a major initiative to fill a gap left by US aid cuts, Codix Bio, Nigeria’s WHO-licensed diagnostics factory, is to produce 147m rapid...
SA man overdoses after accused of selling paint as edible colouring
The owner of a company in Mookgophong (Naboomspruit) in Limpopo that manufactures cake colouring was admitted to hospital last week after a suicide attempt,...
Californian tests positive for plague
Another American tested positive for plague after a camping trip in California, the latest in a string of positive cases in the western United States, reports...
Aspen Pharmacare bracing for R4bn loss
Aspen Pharmacare, valued at just under R50bn on the JSE, said it expects to report a loss of R4bn for its 2025 financial year,...
Kellogg commits to removing dyes from cereals by 2027
WK Kellogg Co plans to remove artificial dyes from its breakfast cereals in the next two and a half years, as US food producers...
Game-changing Lenacapavir to be rolled out from next year
More than 300 government clinics are in line for the first roll-out of the widely-hailed twice-yearly anti-HIV jab lenacapavir within the next two years...
Legal suit on the cards against anti-migrant groups
Civil society groups, with the help of Lawyers for Human Rights, are preparing legal action in a bid to force authorities to act against...
Shortage of sub-specialist posts increases healthcare risks
The shortage of registrar and sub-specialist posts may save Health Departments millions in the short term, but experts warn it costs billions long-term in...
Weight-loss drug Wegovy debuts in SA
Novo Nordisk introduced its weight-loss drug Wegovy in South Africa last Thursday, marking its debut in Africa and stepping up competition with Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, which...
NHLS targets dented by 2024 cyber attack
The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is still suffering from the cyber attack last June that annihilated its ICT systems and infrastructure, and resulted in it...
AI helps detect rampant healthcare fraud and waste
While the financial haemorrhage linked to fraud, waste and abuse in the healthcare sector adds up to billions every year (between R22bn and R28bn),...
Plans on track for new Western Cape hospitals
The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness (DHW) plans to complete three hospital projects by 2033, with the new Klipfontein and Belhar regional...
FDA green-lights chronic lung disease treatment
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved oral brensocatib (Brinsupri) as the first treatment for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis in adults and children 12...
SA pharmacies support flavoured vape ban
Regulation of e-cigarettes in this country is long overdue, with flavoured vapes, especially, being described by the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA) as “bait”,...
HRT shortage leaves women struggling
A worldwide shortage of hormone replacement therapy medication is affecting women around the globe, leaving them unable to find relief from menopausal symptoms that...
Vet council reports Minister for ‘overstepping’ his mandate
The SA Veterinary Council (SAVC) has accused Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen of seeking to de-legitimise its free and fair elections and has written to...
Experts oppose Kennedy’s hepatitis B jab theories
Scathing American public health experts are pushing back against doubts and criticisms about the hepatitis B vaccine spread by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy...
Scientists call for stronger action in DRC mpox crisis
Mpox is spreading faster, showing new modes of transmission and affecting different populations, with scientists warning that the disease needs to be brought under...
Tainted fentanyl kills 96 patients in Argentina, more deaths suspected
A massive investigation has been launched in Argentina after at least 96 people, and possibly more, are thought to have died after being treated...
Eastern Cape pupils hospitalised after school lunch
The Eastern Cape Department of Health said 131 children from Gobisizwe Agricultural School in Ngqeleni were admitted to hospital last week with suspected food...
Innovative project sees Groote Schuur interns tackle GBV
Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital has provided 50 medical interns with specialised training on how to sensitively screen for intimate partner violence (IPV) and...
FDA grants priority review for oral gonorrhoea antibiotic
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted British pharmaceutical company GSK’s application for priority review of gepotidacin as an oral option for...
Naked US doctor has licence revoked
A doctor in Arkansas suspected of having a sexual compulsive disorder has had his licence revoked a year after video footage captured him walking...
Calls for probe into cystic fibrosis drugmaker to be reopened
Health lobbyists are demanding that the Competition Commission reopen its investigation into the manufacturers of Trikafta, for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, which is expected to...
Arrests as anti-migrant thugs ratchet up their campaign
Police have made several arrests of militant anti-migrant group members recently, but seemingly with little effect as the organisations continue to terrorise foreigners seeking...
Life-changing surgery for KZN boy with rare tumours
A KZN boy has had his life transformed by a specialist medical team from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which recently performed complex surgery to...
Healthcare staff under siege from crime
Public healthcare workers are living in fear as criminals wage a war of robbery and assault on them, with attacks escalating – and even...
Safety alert for faulty defibrillation leads tied to injuries, deaths
Boston Scientific has issued a letter to customers warning that certain ENDOTAK RELIANCE defibrillation leads with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) coated coils may impact shock...
US health experts unite to clamour for Kennedy's removal
A report detailing major health challenges in the United States – and calling for the removal of Robert F Kennedy Jr from the Department...
Patients say clinic nurses force them to have HIV tests
Residents in at least three provinces say they have been coerced into undergoing HIV testing at various government health facilities, and that in some...
Watchdog orders J&J to drop ‘number 1’ nasal spray claim
The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has ordered Johnson & Johnson to remove or amend claims from its commercial that its Sinutab product are the...
Doctor crowdfunds R2m after cancer diagnosis
A doctor from the Eastern Cape – who was diagnosed with not just a brain tumour but also skin cancer – raised an extraordinary...
Mthatha EMS crew forced to sleep in Khayelitsha shack
Two Eastern Cape EMS drivers recently transporting a child from Mthatha had to spend two nights in an informal settlement in Khayelitsha, Cape Town,...
Woman awakens from coma moments before organ donation surgery
The scarcity of available organs for transplant in the United States – and the increasing need for more – is putting a growing number...
Experts push for harm reduction policies
Harm reduction – in multiple forms, from safer smoking alternatives to sunscreens to wearing seatbelts – was high on the agenda at a recent...
Donated generators ‘lying idle’ at Durban Hospital
Hundreds of low-voltage diesel generators donated by China are apparently being stored unused at Wentworth Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, pending distribution to provinces – but...
Fire-damaged Free State hospital wards back in service
The National District Hospital in the Free State re-opened wards and sections of the Bloemfontein facility that had been gutted by a fire in...
Mpox testing project launched in Africa as cases rise
With mpox infections continuing to rise on the continent, the Africa CDC and the European Commission have launched the Partnership to Accelerate Mpox Testing and...
Rwanda rethinks malaria jabs amid surge in cases
Rwanda is confronting an unexpected resurgence in malaria infections and signs of treatment resistance that have forced alarmed officials to revisit vaccine intervention the...
State can be sued for failing foreign nationals, lawyers group says
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has warned that the government can be taken to court if it fails to intervene in the public health...