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News Update
Malaria from ‘stowaway mosquitoes’ kills two German airport staff
Two Frankfurt Airport workers have died of malaria after a rare outbreak led to six employees contracting the serious infection spread by mosquitoes, reports...
US device-makers, Novo, targeted in series of cyber attacks
US medical device-maker Boston Scientific said last week that a cybersecurity incident had disrupted global operations, including some information systems used to process and ship...
Cape Town trauma team’s skill saves impaled man’s life
A complex trauma scenario was resolved with remarkable skill and precision recently at Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital, after a steel rod impaled a...
Net closes in as Tembisa syndicate kingpin arrested
The arrest of a key player in the Tembisa Hospital procurement fraud scandal, six years after whistle-blower Babita Deokaran was assassinated for flagging irregular...
South African research funding ban reversed by US
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has done an about-turn on its funding ban on South African research projects, opening the door for...
PIMART pharmacists get go-ahead to apply for ARV dispensing permits
Ten months after an enabling court judgment, some specially trained South African pharmacists can finally start applying for permits allowing them to dispense ARVs...
Fourteen newborns die in Pakistan hospital fire
A horrific blaze in an Islamabad maternity ward on Wednesday killed 14 babies – while their desperate parents say they waited hours for help...
GEMS boss suspended by board
Stan Moloabi, principal officer of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS), has been put on precautionary suspension, pending “the completion of an internal administrative...
Five years after Deokaran’s death, killers’ boss still unknown and free
This past Sunday marked five years since the assassination of Gauteng Health whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, who had first exposed the trail of suspicious payments...
Durban nurse suspended after viral video
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has condemned a video on social media showing a nurse bullying a patient at King Dinuzulu Hospital, and placed...
Industry buoyed by promised hike for medicine price cap
After a major meeting last week with various pharmaceutical bodies, including the Pharmaceutical Task Group (PTG), the government has committed to considering an “extraordinary”...
Eastern Cape police arrest trio in illicit anxiety medicines bust
Three men arrested for allegedly dealing illegally in controlled medication appeared in two separate courts in Nelson Mandela Bay last week after being nabbed...
New Bill punts changes for MPs’ medical aid
Compulsory membership of the (expensive) parliamentary medical scheme, Parmed, is being reconsidered by the National Assembly, and may be replaced with voluntary membership, reports...
Probe after Helen Joseph patient complaint
Johannesburg’s Helen Joseph Hospital has initiated an investigation after a video posted on social media by a patient claimed the hospital is chaotic and...
Eastern Cape ambulance crisis at breaking point, warn staff, union
EMS workers and their union in the Eastern Cape say their ambulance fleet is so depleted that only a handful of vehicles is available...
Concern over Cape hospice inpatient unit closure
A Cape Town NPO that provides palliative and hospice care to people with life-threatening illnesses is being urged by former staff and volunteers to...
Jozini hospital gets multi-million-rand upgrade
KwaZulu-Natal is investing R359m in upgrading Mosvold Hospital in uMkhanyakude as the province ramps up its efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure in rural communities,...
New military hospital finally officially opens
The brand new R625m Forest Hill Military Base Hospital in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, was officially opened last week, one of only four such facilities...
Surge in cervical cancer screenings in Cape Town
Health authorities in Cape Town said they are encouraged by the rise in cervical cancer screening tests at local health facilities, the figures having...
FDA approves drug to treat HIV in newborns
The FDA has approved dolutegravir (Tivicay PD; ViiV Healthcare) tablets for oral suspension for the treatment of HIV infection in newborns from birth to...
Novo’s weekly insulin jabs hit the market
Novo Nordisk is launching its first-of-its-kind weekly insulin dose for type 2 diabetes, offering greater convenience and less pain, but the downside of the...
France green-lights ‘aid in dying’ Bill
France has finally, after years of debate, approved legislation granting incurably ill adults the right to assisted dying, with the text being approved by the...
Motsoaledi off sick, acting Minister fills in
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, on sick leave for a month – illness undisclosed – will be temporarily replaced by Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams,...
KZN nursing college notches up NQF Level 8 degree approval
The KZN College of Nursing has achieved a major milestone after receiving approval for its Bachelor of Nursing degree at NQF Level 8 from...
First mpox cases in Guinea-Bissau
The small West African country of Guinea-Bissau is facing its first-ever mpox outbreak, with children accounting for half of the 46 suspected cases, reports...
Nigeria to decriminalise attempted suicide
Nigeria, which has a crippling shortage of mental health professionals – fewer than 1 000 psychiatrists serving more than 200m people – says it...
Harvard to fork out $53m for sales of donated corpses
Harvard University has been ordered to pay $53m to settle a class-action suit brought by families claiming an imprisoned former morgue manager at the...
Cipla and Health Department in legal showdown over ARV tender
Officials from the Department of Health have denied claims of flawed processes and collusive bidding linked to its controversial HIV drugs tender and in...
Black pharma slams market exclusion, lack of state support
The Black Pharmaceutical Industry Association (BPIA), which says less than 1% of the domestic market is held by black-owned firms, has added its voice...
Jobless doctors could solve excess workload crisis, says union
Chronic staffing shortages are adding huge pressure to South Africa’s already over-burdened public health sector, and unions say that unemployed doctors could plug the gaps and...
SAHPRA recalls batches of BP meds
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) is recalling four batches of Arya Enalapril 10mg, commonly used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension).
The...
Eastern Cape Health ignores thousands of supplier invoices
The Health Department in the Eastern Cape failed to pay 2 340 invoices within 30 days – worth a staggering R161.9m – with 48%...
FBI flags new hackers targeting health
Public health and healthcare groups, among others, are urged to be on the alert for a ransomware group actively targeting the sector, according to...
Expanded day hospital will help ease backlogs in Eastern Cape
The only day hospital in Gqeberha with a licence for overnight patients reached another significant milestone last week with the unveiling of its expansion,...
Rob Ferreira Hospital patient waiting time woes intensify
Crippling delays and queues, compounded by sparse, apathetic employees, are frustrating outpatients at Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela, who have complained that staff shortages...
Tobacco Bill under scrutiny by MPs
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health this week began analysing the wording of the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill’s preamble and definitions,...
Lilly sues illicit weight loss drug dealers
Six companies are being sued by Eli Lilly for selling versions of its experimental weight-loss drug retatrutide, with the company saying this is just...
Fast-rising China pharma industry to take on global giants
Chinese analysts say the country is anticipating the emergence – within the next decade – of a home-grown pharmaceutical giant capable of competing with...
Ebola outbreak the deadliest ever – WHO
The WHO says the runaway outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is likely to overtake the deadliest outbreak of the disease...
Zepbound injectable remains doctors’ favourite, despite oral options
A recent survey in the United States has found that injected weight loss drugs are still preferred by physicians over newer oral treatments –...