HomeNews Update
News Update
Surging malnutrition data under-reported, say experts
An extra 6 000 children a year have gone hungry since Covid-19 and food price increases, but experts say reported figures are probably grossly...
Looming UK ban on over-the-counter codeine syrups
Britain’s medicines safety regulator has invited public comment on ending over-the-counter sales of codeine-based cough syrup, which is increasingly being used recreationally for its...
Cameroon children's deaths linked to toxic cough syrup
A batch of cough/cold syrup sold in Cameroon – under the brand name Naturcold – containing extremely high levels of a toxic ingredient, has...
Africa battles triple burden of malaria/cholera/measles
South Africa is not the only country struggling with an escalation in malaria cases: the same is happening in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and parts of...
Six-month reprieve for unused Pfizer jabs
Another six-month extension has been given to the shelf life of the country’s unused Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines by the South African Heath Products Regulatory...
First rise in Covid cases in six months, warn WHO, CDC
The US Centres for Disease Control & Prevention has said Covid-19 indicators in the country are rising, with emergency department visits, test positivity rates...
Ban disposable vapes by 2024, urges UK council
Councils in England and Wales want the British Government to ban the sale of single use vapes by 2024, with the Local Government Association...
Latest TikTok trend alarms health experts
The latest health-endangering fad on viral social media platform TikTok recommends adding household cleaner borax to bath water, which experts say could cause stomach...
J&J patent deal allows for cheaper generic TB drugs, but SA may lose out
Johnson & Johnson has struck a deal to allow generic versions of its TB drug to be supplied to low-income countries – but critics...
Nearly 5m South Africans placed on new HIV medicines in four years
In what is possibly one of the largest treatment roll-outs in South African history, more than 4m people with HIV have started taking the...
Free State infant malnutrition and deaths from starvation on the rise
Free State infants are still dying from a lack of healthy food, with 21 having died from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) between April and...
South Africa lags behind in genetic testing
SA is about two decades behind other countries in using genetic tests to optimise health care, say experts, who attribute this partly to medical...
Hospital staff who refused to be reallocated get R67m for doing nothing
Despite the closure of an Eastern Cape TB hospital two years ago, 45 of its staff have continued to be paid a total of...
Mpumalanga interns told to find and pay for their own digs
Medical interns allocated to facilities in Mpumalanga have alleged their hospital accommodation has been given to Cuban-trained doctors and doctors from other African countries,...
SA's lack of budget for future pandemics a concern, experts say
The head of the secretariat of the African Union Commission on Covid-19 has described as concerning the fact that South Africa has absolutely no...
European agency probes weight loss drugs’ link to suicidal thoughts
The European Medicines Agency is investigating various weight loss and diabetes drugs after it was reported that some patients had experienced thoughts of suicide...
Approval sought for two paediatric antibiotics for MDR infections
US pharmaceutical company Melinta Therapeutics is to receive funding from the government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance two antibiotics targeting...
Semenya wins appeal at European Human Rights Court
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of double 800m Olympic champion Caster Semenya in a case related to testosterone levels...
SA men queue for Botox, fillers
An increasing number of people – worldwide – are looking for short and long-term treatments in their quest for beauty, including in South Africa,...
HRC to probe death of patient ‘abandoned’ by paramedics
Two suspended KZN paramedics who apparently refused to walk down steps to reach a patient in distress, and who drove off after the family...
Fed-up Chatsworth hospital staff protest over conditions
Staff downed tools at RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth, Durban, last week as nurses, admin and general workers protested for an hour over poor...
Fingerprint system to clear backlog of unclaimed bodies
The identification of unknown bodies piling up in mortuaries across the country is expected to be expedited after the launch last week of a...
WHO alert to severe E-11 infections in newborns
There has been a global rise in enterovirus-echovirus 11 (E-11) neonatal sepsis cases, with another five countries reporting infections similar to those first reported...
First over-the-counter birth control pill approved in US
The US Government has approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, which will be available without a script to women of all ages, probably...
Call for inquiry into ‘systemic healthcare xenophobia’ against migrants in SA
Despite the Gauteng High Court having given all pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, and children under six, regardless of nationality or documentation, the rights to...
Junior doctors in Limpopo still waiting for placement
A total of 79 junior doctors supposedly allocated to public hospitals in Limpopo for their community service and who were due to start work...
Schizophrenia care under strain in private and public health sectors
South Africa’s critical shortage of psychiatrists and specialised staff in the field is not only a public health issue, according to experts, who say...
Charlotte Maxeke elective surgeries cancelled
More than 50 elective cases were cancelled at the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital because the heating system failed, according to the DA's Jack Bloom.
In...
Full FDA approval for Alzheimer’s drug
The first treatment targeting Alzheimer’s disease has been given full FDA approval, the agency announced last week, giving the green light to the anti-amyloid...
Time to review underwriting of mental health, say SA insurers
Insurers Investec Life and Liberty are both observing a significant increase in mental health concerns from their client bases, echoing a global trend highlighted...
Post-TB lung disease more common than Covid in SA
Millions of people in South Africa are suffering from post-TB lung disease, which is far more common than Covid and the most common cause...
Public largely unmoved by healthier choices ‘nudges’, say experts
Despite innovative experiments and efforts aimed at prompting people towards healthier choices, these are not always successful, according to experts speaking at the 15th...
Bail denied to GP’s ex-wife who ‘plotted to kill him’
The Gqeberha businesswoman accused of masterminding the murder of her ex-husband, Dr Bantu Noqekwa, in an apparently financially motivated crime, was denied bail in...
Finetown clinic finally opens after four years
The Finetown (Gauteng) clinic opened its doors last week after a four-year campaign by residents since the area’s mobile health facility was razed to...
Patient dies and other hospitalised after unlicensed chemo from NHS provider
A British cancer patient has died and three others have been hospitalised after they were given unlicensed versions of chemotherapy by Sciensus, a company...
Australia calls for sonography regulator
Concerns about patients receiving incorrect or missed diagnoses due to poorly performed ultrasounds have prompted calls for Australian sonographers to be brought under the...
US plastic surgeon faces death penalty
A plastic surgeon in Florida, USA, who has pleaded not guilty to killing a lawyer and dumping his body after a heated and lengthy...
Health Department calls for NHI IT tenders
The National Department of Health is forging ahead with its NHI plans, recently calling for tenders for the hosting, maintenance, support and enhancement of...
Activists campaign for easy-to-understand, user-friendly food labelling
An awareness campaign about the draft regulations on food labelling and marketing –released by the national Health Department in April – has been launched...
More African countries get GSK malaria jab for children
The World Health Organization and Unicef are to distribute 18m doses of GSK’s new RTS/S malaria vaccine to 12 countries, including nine that haven’t...