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News Update
First-of-its-kind heart lifeline for Durban man
A patient with stage four heart failure, and who was no longer responding to treatment, has been given a new lease on life after...
UK antibiotic warning after suicidal thoughts report
British authorities have issued an alert to healthcare professionals prescribing fluoroquinolone antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, delafloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, ofloxacin), reminding them to be alert to the...
Concern from FDA committee about ALS cell therapy
US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) reviewers have expressed misgivings about the investigational amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatment debamestrocel from BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, before...
Japan greenlights Alzheimer’s treatment
Japan has become the second country, after the USA, to approve the drug Leqembi – developed by partners Eisai and Biogen – a treatment for slowing...
Counterfeit cancer drug blinds patients in Pakistan
Pakistan officials are investigating two local distributors of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche’s Avastin cancer drug after 12 diabetic patients in Punjab went blind when they...
Doubt cast on infection link in quadruple amputee case
Officials in the US have queried a recent case of a California woman who had all four limbs amputated after apparently developing a life-threatening...
High TB death rate, a worry – Phaahla
The Department of Health has raised concerns over the death rate among TB patients in the country – the WHO estimated 56 000 deaths...
Early cancer diagnosis critical for children, say SA experts
With about 1 000 children diagnosed with cancer in South Africa every year, there is a critical need to focus on early diagnosis.
According to...
Woman who shunned chemotherapy for natural remedies dies
A US woman who fiercely resisted chemotherapy for her colon cancer died after trying to cure the disease naturally, and after releasing a string of...
Majority of hypertension patients not adequately treated – WHO report
The first ever report from the WHO on the devastating global impact of high blood pressure – and ways to beat this silent killer...
Needle-free anaphylaxis drug thwarted by FDA
A US drug company – ARS Pharma – which had been hoping for FDA approval last week of its flagship product, a needle-free treatment...
US Covid hospital admissions and deaths rising
The number of Americans being admitted to hospital with Covid are climbing, sitting at 20 538 per week, according to US Centres for Disease...
UN approves global accord on pandemic response
A political declaration by UN member states on more effective pandemic preparedness and response was approved at a High Level Meeting last week, signalling...
RAF amendment Bill 'discriminates' against medical scheme members
Proposed “draconian” provisions in the draft Road Accident Fund (RAF) Amendment Bill discriminate unfairly against medical aid members and may necessitate steep premium increases...
Foreign-trained doctor exams set after long delay
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has finally secured dates for the medical board examinations that will enable students trained abroad to...
NHLS refuses to share science data over Popia concerns
Researchers are at loggerheads with the National Health Laboratory Services for the latter’s interpretation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) and refusal...
Nurses’ headscarves ban slated for January 2024
The Department of Health’s new dress policy, prohibiting nurses from wearing headscarves on duty and “which makes no sense at all”, according to some...
MPs call for Eastern Cape Health to go under administration
Eastern Cape MPLs who conducted oversight visits to hospitals and clinics recently slammed conditions and services, with the DA repeating its previous calls for Health...
Gauteng hospitals struggle with water issues
The water supply problem affecting three hospitals in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni have not yet been resolved, with the facilities relying on boreholes and roving...
Aspen contracted to produce insulin for Africa
Novo Nordisk has contracted Aspen Pharmacare to produce human insulin on its behalf in South Africa for export to African countries through a low-cost...
Eastern Cape TB hospital closed but repurpose plans stall
The Orsmond TB Hospital in Nelson Mandela Bay was closed two years ago because of dwindling patient numbers and with plans to repurpose it...
Free State worst performer in ARV dispensing, survey finds
The Free State is performing abysmally when it comes to dispensing ARVs, the percentage of HIV patients receiving a three to six-month supply of...
R100m grant to manage Africa’s future epidemics
A Stellenbosch University-led consortium has been handed a R101m grant to manage future epidemics on the continent, the only African-led project among five international...
Fury after sexually harassed female surgeons told to ‘toughen up’
A retired British consultant anaesthetist has sparked outrage after calling for female surgeons to ‘toughen up’ in reaction to research indicating that 30% of...
Woman has all four limbs amputated after eating fish
Experts have issued a warning after a California woman developed a bacterial infection and had all of her limbs amputated after cooking fish bought from a...
India detects new variant of chickenpox-causing virus
A clade 9 variant of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) has been detected in India for the first time, with the National Institute of Virology...
SA vaccine development boosted by German grant
The German Government, through the KfW Development Bank, will provide SA with €20m for vaccine production over five years.
Higher Education & Science Minister Blade...
Ramaphosa urges global investment in women and children
World leaders must challenge the disregard many communities and countries have for the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, President Cyril Ramaphosa...
CDC advises all Americans to get new Covid jab
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all Americans six months and older receive at least one dose of...
Two die in India’s fourth wave of Nipah virus
Schools, offices and public transport were shut down in parts of India last week in efforts to halt the spread of the rare and...
SA mortality statistics inaccurate, warns SAMRC
Official South African mortality statistics over-estimate accidental injuries and under-estimate homicides, transport and suicide deaths, warns the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), with...
Crisp agrees SA ‘screwed over vaccines’
The national Department of Health’s deputy director-general, Dr Nicholas Crisp, has conceded the country was hard done by during the Covid-19 vaccine procurement process...
Pretoria study flags listeria in beef
A recent investigation has red-flagged the food-borne pathogen, listeria monocytogenes, in beef and its products across Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West Provinces, with experts...
UK mulls implementing ‘Martha’s rule’ after teen's death
Following the death of 13-year-old Martha Mills – who developed sepsis in hospital but warning signs were missed by medics – Britain’s Health Secretary,...
ESC issues cardiomyopathy guidelines
The European Society of Cardiology has released its first major comprehensive international guidelines to address diagnosis and treatment of the broad causes of heart...
Chronic kidney diseases surge in SA
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in South Africa is soaring, with Discovery Health revealing that members registered for the condition had more than quadrupled between...
Decongestants in cold medicines ‘ineffective’: FDA
An outside panel of experts to the US Food and Drug Administration has refused to back the effectiveness of oral over-the-counter (OTC) medicines made...
Pregnant woman found hanged in hospital
Incompetence and misplaced priorities are to blame for the death of a pregnant woman at Kopanong Provincial Hospital, the DA has said, slamming the...
British female surgeons sexually assaulted in NHS hospitals
The Royal College of Surgeons in England has described as “truly shocking” the revelations that female surgeons are being sexually harassed, assaulted, and in...
DA calls for state doctors to be held accountable for negligence
After a payout of R83m by the Mpumalanga provincial government to settle medical negligence cases, the DA has suggested public sector doctors should be...