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News Update
Australia starts first peanut allergy programme for babies
Babies who have a peanut allergy are now being offered free and potentially life-changing treatment at hospitals across Australia in a world-first programme aimed...
Trust in US doctors plunged in pandemic – and still low, finds survey
A recent survey of more than 400 000 American adults found that during the pandemic, trust in physicians and hospitals decreased sharply, and higher...
Almost 120 000 girls give birth in one year
The number of young girls and teenagers having babies remains constant in South Africa, with more than 2 700 girls aged 10 to 14...
Corpse shortage due to rise in Scottish medical students
Scotland is experiencing a shortage of cadavers because of an increase in the number of students studying medicine, with surgical colleges even having to...
iTOO enters new partnership with indemnity specialist EthiQal
iTOO Special Risks, a speciality risk underwriter, and EthiQal, a medical professional indemnity provider for specialist doctors, have announced an exciting strategic partnership.
This collaboration,...
Prosthetist in court on RAF fraud charges
A Gqeberha prosthetist was arrested and appeared in court last week for allegedly defrauding the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to the tune of R290...
Sizwe Hosmed in financial trouble as other schemes hike prices
Three years after its debut, Sizwe Hosmed Medical Scheme has been placed under statutory management by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), due to...
UK approves weight-loss jab for heart attacks, stroke
British health officials have approved weight-loss drug Wegovy to be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes in overweight people, the first such medication...
FDA green light for colon cancer blood test
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a blood test to be used for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults 45 and older...
Corruption allegations linked to North West hospital tender
A North West businessman’s lawsuit against the provincial Department of Health has exposed claims of corruption in the construction of a multimillion-rand hospital, with...
‘Whistle-blower’ seeks Hawks protection at hearing
A senior health official who blew the whistle on alleged corruption – implicating DG Sandile Buthelezi in a bribe of R500 000 – requested...
Free State patient pours faeces over clinic worker
An employee at Thabong Clinic in the Free State is receiving counselling after being targeted with a bucket of faeces by a disgruntled patient,...
US to buy African-made ARVs for Pepfar programme
America is throwing its weight behind African production of antiretrovirals, with the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief programme (Pepfar) committing to buying...
FDA issues dosage warning for semaglutide compound
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert about overdoses, some requiring hospital admission, after patient and physician confusion around compounded...
SA staff unpaid as US ‘healthcare firm’ probed by FBI
Former South African employees of what was supposedly a healthcare company, which is being investigated for fraud in the US, say they are still...
WHO upgrades carcinogenicity of talc
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation, has reclassified talc from “possibly” to “probably” carcinogenic, and reclassified...
Protests at Northdale Hospital
Protests outside Pietermaritzburg’s Northdale Hospital yesterday saw security guards locking the gates and prohibiting people from either entering or leaving the premises, reports The...
Plant-based diets may benefit type 2 diabetes
In 2021, it was estimated that more than 4m South African adults had diabetes. In lifestyle diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is arguably...
Hard-hitting court ruling against 'certificate of need' plan
The High Court has delivered a damning ruling against the controversial Certificate of Need (CON) scheme for doctors and private hospitals, and has struck...
SAHPRA clarifies B-BBEE policy
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has rejected what it calls a misinformation campaign related to its draft B-BBEE Policy, which it...
Healthcare systems hit hard by global Microsoft outage
Doctors, nurses and hospital administrators around the globe were going into panic mode last week as they raced to manage the consequences of the...
Call to resolve acting CEO crisis in KZN hospitals
KZN provincial hospitals are having a leadership crisis and intervention is urgently needed, according to the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA), which...
Business group upbeat after Ramaphosa’s NHI comments
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) is encouraged by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent promises to “resolve differences” and “bring stakeholders together” on the thorny NHI...
Medical student in hot water over ‘genocide’ post
A Stellenbosch University medical student and qualified paramedic is being investigated by the university’s Equality Unit after using his X account to allegedly “incite...
Private labs help NHLS through cyber crisis
The chaos caused by last month’s cyber attack has led to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) having to rely on the private sector...
Primary school pupil tests negative for mpox
The Health Department has confirmed that a grade 1 pupil from Hammanskraal – initially said to have contracted mpox – has tested negative for...
Health costs force TB patients deeper into poverty
More than half of South Africa’s tuberculosis patients are struggling to cope with the costs related to their illnesses, with thousands of them sinking...
No treatment for most people with neurological issues – WHO report
Nearly half of the world’s population suffers from some form of neurological condition ranging from simple migraines to Alzheimer’s, and yet in low-income countries,...
‘Teflon flu’ sending Americans to hospital
Toxic fumes from burning non-stick frying pans sent a record number of Americans to hospital last year, with data showing that more than 250...
New Zealand state care abused 200 000 children, vulnerable adults, inquiry finds
The New Zealand Government has apologised after a public inquiry revealed that around 200 000 children, young people and vulnerable adults had been abused...
Tuskegee ‘syphilis study’ whistle-blower dies
American Peter Buxtun, the whistle-blower who revealed that the US Government allowed hundreds of black men in rural Alabama to go untreated for syphilis...
Eastern Cape doctor killed in crash
Well-known Gqeberha doctor Lungisa Excel Nojoko died in a head-on collision last Sunday morning, when his bakkie collided with a car carrying three people,...
Gauteng Health event targets improved primary healthcare
A two-day summit was recently hosted by the Gauteng Department of Health at which various experts shared ideas on how best to reconfigure service...
WHO flags polio virus in Gaza sewage water samples
Variant type 2 poliovirus (VDPV) has been isolated from six environmental (sewage) samples in the Gaza Strip, according to the WHO.
The strains – collected...
Gauteng Health sued over unspent cancer millions
The Cancer Alliance, represented by SECTION27, has filed a court application against the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) after it failed to spend the...
Growing number of SA children hungry and dying – report
The condition of children in South Africa, particularly those under six, is worsening, according to a new report, with nearly 40% of them being...
SAHPRA policy seeks B-BBEE compliance for healthcare licence approvals
Some stakeholders fear that a revised policy proposed by the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), making it mandatory for applicants to submit broad-based...
Angry doctors demand millions from RAF
More than 70 medical professionals have appealed to Transport Minister Barbara Creecy for help after failure by the Road Accident Fund to pay them...
Life Esidimeni judgment opens door for prosecutions
The National Director of Public Prosecutions will determine whether to prosecute former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and the department’s head of mental health...
Digital medical records among NDoH targets
The National Department of Health will introduce a phased development of electronic medical records for primary health services, focusing initially on HIV and TB...