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News Update
UK launches major study of personalised cancer therapies
A large-scale collaborative study of personalised cancer therapies could offer clinicians a real-time view of how well treatments are working, say scientists, and decide...
SAHPRA rejects woman’s bid for cancer drug not yet registered in SA
An Umhlanga woman (53) is battling cancer and bureaucracy in attempts to acquire medication that might save her life.
Ina Requilet has an aggressive mutation...
Eastern Cape teen dies while waiting for ambulance
A teenage girl died after waiting six hours for an ambulance, with her desperate parents being unable to call for help because the Eastern...
Health Department dithering over HMI, says BHF
The National Department of Health has denied dragging its heels over plans to make the cost of healthcare more affordable, after the Board of...
Pfizer withdraws sickle cell treatment after deaths
Pfizer is withdrawing its sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta from all markets where it has been approved, citing risks of a painful complication and deaths.
Pfizer...
World leaders pledge to slash AMR by 10%
A UN High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) last week has pledged to reduce – by 10% – deaths from drug-resistant bacteria over...
Slow progress on Pfizer’s plan to sell cheap drugs to poor nations
Two years after launching a plan to make its medicines available to 45 low-income countries at not-for-profit prices, Pfizer has only signed up 10...
Marburg virus kills eight in Rwanda
Eight people have died from an outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda, most of the victims being healthcare workers, the country’s Health Minister has...
Western Cape youngsters drive province's HIV spike
Findings of an extensive survey released by the Human Sciences Research Council last week include that sexual debut before the age of 15 –...
Africa gets pledges of $800m for mpox response
African countries and partners have pledged more than $800m towards the continent’s mpox response amid surging infection, said the director-general of the Africa Centres...
US senator accuses Novo Nordisk of greed
More than 40 000 Americans risk dying if Novo Nordisk doesn’t lower the prices of its diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, according...
Colon cancer therapy fails late-stage trial
A combination of Merck’s experimental drug and blockbuster therapy Keytruda had failed a late-stage trial testing it in previously treated patients with a type...
Professor Glenda Gray appointed new GARDP board chair
The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) has announced the appointment of distinguished scientist and leader in the medical research community, Professor Glenda...
Chronic illness fuels substantial medical aid hikes
Private medical scheme members should brace themselves for substantial premium hikes next year, attributed to a combination of a surge in chronic conditions and...
Gauteng lacks safety compliance, Health Committee hears
Already humiliated by recent scathing headlines about their services, Gauteng hospitals are also failing to comply with occupational health and safety regulations, while others...
CMS rejects request for autoimmune guidance
The Autoimmune Alliance of SA (AASA) has had its call for guidance on funding costly treatments rejected by the medical scheme industry regulator.
The advocacy...
Gauteng initiates plan to improve health outcomes
The Gauteng Department of Health (GDH) will implement a new plan to prevent unwanted outcomes at state facilities.
Since the beginning of 2023, the GDH...
Health official in court accused of fraudulent credentials
A deputy director in the Free State Department of Health, Mmulutsi Winston Mokwai is embroiled in a fraud scandal after allegations that he used...
Unclaimed body count in state mortuaries tops 3 000
State mortuaries countrywide are becoming desperate as unclaimed bodies pile up, with the government urgently calling for families with missing loved ones to contact...
Lasker research award for Abdool Karims
South Africa’s infectious disease specialists, husband and wife team Quarraisha and Salim Abdool Karim, are among the nominees for the international Lasker Awards, a...
Virus causing paralysing illness spikes in US wastewater
A respiratory virus that sometimes paralyses children is spreading across America, raising concerns about another possible rise in polio-like illnesses, according to US health...
Swiss police swoop after suicide pod used for first time
Police in Switzerland have arrested several people after the controversial “Sarco” capsule, designed to allow its occupant to commit suicide, was used for the...
FDA clears Apple’s new sleep apnoea feature
The FDA has cleared Apple’s new sleep apnoea detection feature, which analyses a metric called “breathing disturbances” via an accelerometer measuring wrist movements indicating normal...
Musk’s vision implant gets FDA’s breakthrough device tag
Elon Musk’s brain-chip start-up Neuralink announced last week that its experimental implant aimed at restoring vision has received the US Food and Drug Administration’s...
WHO and FIFA launch global concussion campaign
A concussion awareness campaign has been launched by FIFA, the international football federation, in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO), in line with...
Patient found hanged in Gauteng hospital bathroom
A 36-year-old female patient admitted to Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa on Saturday was found dead in a bathroom, hanging by a...
Health Ombud to investigate Helen Joseph Hospital
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has asked Ombudsman Professor Taole Mokoena to initiate a probe into Helen Joseph Hospital, saying he doesn’t want “the Gauteng...
Survey shows HIV rates soaring in Mpumalanga
Nearly 900 000 people in Mpumalanga (or 17.4% of the population) are HIV positive, giving it the dubious title of province with the highest infection in the country, according...
AG disputes Gauteng Health’s ‘successes’
Despite numerous complaints regarding poor treatment at Gauteng hospitals – including the latest, widely distributed patient video about Helen Joseph Hospital – the Health...
Labour Court orders ex-NHLS boss to repay R22m
Five years after Joyce Mogale, former CEO of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), was fired for contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act,...
FDA launches probe into lead, arsenic detected in tampons
The US Food and Drug Administration will be carrying out studies to investigate any potential harm to women from the presence of heavy metals,...
FDA alert on menopausal drug
The FDA has issued an alert warning women about menopausal medicine for hot flushes, saying fezolinetant (Veozah), a hormone-free pill, could cause rare but...
North West Health Department HoD on fraud charges still in post
Despite charges of fraud and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act related to a dodgy R470m contract, the head of North West Department...
Hope for Africa as WHO approves first mpox vaccine
The WHO has given its authorisation to a first vaccine to protect against mpox, the decision announced so hastily last Friday that the head...
Radical overhaul for Britain's NHS after damning report
Britain’s Prime Minister has vowed to draw up a new 10-year plan for the country’s National Health Service (NHS), after a damning report indicating...
Bird flu case raises first suggestion of human transmission
In what could possibly be the first known case in the United States, the H5N1 “bird flu” virus may have now been spread from...
Patient's viral video highlights state of public healthcare
A viral video by a patient at Helen Joseph Hospital exposing uncaring doctors and dilapidated conditions has again sparked national discussion about the attitude...
Private forensic experts to help state with medico-legal fraud
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has instructed his department to readvertise a tender for private companies to assist in its bid to reduce its expenditure...
SAMA urges action after psychiatric patient attacks doctor
The SA Medical Association (SAMA) is demanding increased security measures at healthcare facilities after a Free State patient’s attack on a doctor where nurses...
Critical vacancy rates for doctors, nurses and managers
Vacancy rates for doctors range from 22.4% in the Free State to 5.5% in the Western Cape, and for nurses, from 28% in the...