HomeNews Update
News Update
Bed linen crisis hits Bara patients
Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital is struggling with yet another bed linen crisis, leaving hundreds of patients without basic bedding necessities and contributing to...
Gauteng Health flags organ donor scarcity in SA
The critical shortage of organ donors is unlikely to improve unless more people become donors, with Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko warning that at...
Wits team joins global mosquito observatory in malaria fight
In a collaborative drive, Wits University researchers have partnered in the continent’s first interconnected mosquito observatory network, VectorGrid-Africa, which has also launched in Tanzania,...
Limited African genetics research impacts research
Of all the human genomes that have been sequenced thus far, only 2% come from Africa, according to geneticist Veron Ramsuran, highlighting the limitations...
Malawi low on TB drugs
Malawi is running out of tuberculosis drugs, with health officials warning that stocks will dry up by the end of September – this just...
FDA approves first-in-class drug for fibromyalgia
The FDA has approved cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride sublingual tablets (Tonmya, Tonix Pharmaceuticals), a first-in-class, non-opioid treatment for adults with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome that affects more than 10m Americans,...
Firing of CDC boss prompts wave of resignations
The White House fired Dr Susan Monarez, director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), last Wednesday after she had refused...
Tembisa fire repairs to cost R14m
Repairs to the fire-damaged Tembisa Hospital will cost R14m, according to Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, in response to a question in the Gauteng...
Kennedy to ‘reveal causes of autism’ this month
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is on track to identify “interventions” that are “certainly causing autism”, and possible ways...
Denmark says sorry for forced birth control in Greenland
Thousands of women and girls in Greenland received IUDs in the 1960s and 1970s, many of them without consent, and last week, the country...
Is your practice cyber-ready? Join the Ethiqal Ethics Webinar
Ethical patient record keeping is essential to modern healthcare, ensuring safe, effective and trustworthy care, so don’t miss the Ethiqal Ethics Webinar, Ethical Record...
NHI hit with two more legal suits
Two new legal suits have been lodged against the NHI in the past week, one taking aim at MPs over alleged inadequate public consultation,...
CMS seeks legal advice on racial profiling findings
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) is consulting lawyers on how to proceed against the three medical aids named in the Section 59 “racial...
SA mulls law review on migrant healthcare
Non-South Africans are not entitled to the full package of comprehensive healthcare provided to this country’s citizens, the chairperson of Parliament’s Health Portfolio Committee...
SA experts flag glucose 'wellness' monitors
Medical experts have expressed concern about continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) being promoted and sold in South Africa as wellness gadgets for tracking food and...
UK approves new bladder cancer treatment
Experts say a new treatment for advanced bladder cancer, which has just been approved by NHS England, could double survival time for patients and...
Eastern Cape acts to ease staff shortages, but concerns linger
The dire shortage of medical staff and the critical number of vacancies at Eastern Cape hospitals and clinics – and others, nationwide – may...
Legal battle over US foreign aid cuts
Health advocates from the US, Kenya and SA have sounded the alarm over the impacts of America’s foreign aid suspension, urging a US court...
Woman dies after allergic reaction from CT scan
What began as a routine medical examination turned tragic when a recently graduated 22-year-old Brazilian lawyer went into anaphylactic shock during a CT scan and died...
NHLS corruption clean-up pays dividends
Strategies that include a tip-off hotline are helping the beleaguered National Health Laboratory Service reduce fraud and criminality – after the organisation was rocked...
SA companies lose out on ARV drugs tender
The National Department of Health’s decision to give the lion’s share of the latest R15.5bn Aids drug tender to Aspen Pharmacare but shun many...
Botswana declares health emergency as vital medical stocks dry up
A public health emergency has been declared in Botswana, where hospitals and clinics are running out of medicine and other vital supplies and surgeries...
Zimbabwe moves on universal healthcare coverage
A new Bill before Zimbabwe’s Parliament aims to provide healthcare for everyone in the country, forcing even private hospitals to fall in line, but...
Nigeria cuts import reliance to produce test kits for HIV, TB, malaria
In a major initiative to fill a gap left by US aid cuts, Codix Bio, Nigeria’s WHO-licensed diagnostics factory, is to produce 147m rapid...
SA man overdoses after accused of selling paint as edible colouring
The owner of a company in Mookgophong (Naboomspruit) in Limpopo that manufactures cake colouring was admitted to hospital last week after a suicide attempt,...
Californian tests positive for plague
Another American tested positive for plague after a camping trip in California, the latest in a string of positive cases in the western United States, reports...
Aspen Pharmacare bracing for R4bn loss
Aspen Pharmacare, valued at just under R50bn on the JSE, said it expects to report a loss of R4bn for its 2025 financial year,...
Kellogg commits to removing dyes from cereals by 2027
WK Kellogg Co plans to remove artificial dyes from its breakfast cereals in the next two and a half years, as US food producers...
Game-changing Lenacapavir to be rolled out from next year
More than 300 government clinics are in line for the first roll-out of the widely-hailed twice-yearly anti-HIV jab lenacapavir within the next two years...
Legal suit on the cards against anti-migrant groups
Civil society groups, with the help of Lawyers for Human Rights, are preparing legal action in a bid to force authorities to act against...
Shortage of sub-specialist posts increases healthcare risks
The shortage of registrar and sub-specialist posts may save Health Departments millions in the short term, but experts warn it costs billions long-term in...
Weight-loss drug Wegovy debuts in SA
Novo Nordisk introduced its weight-loss drug Wegovy in South Africa last Thursday, marking its debut in Africa and stepping up competition with Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, which...
NHLS targets dented by 2024 cyber attack
The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is still suffering from the cyber attack last June that annihilated its ICT systems and infrastructure, and resulted in it...
AI helps detect rampant healthcare fraud and waste
While the financial haemorrhage linked to fraud, waste and abuse in the healthcare sector adds up to billions every year (between R22bn and R28bn),...
Plans on track for new Western Cape hospitals
The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness (DHW) plans to complete three hospital projects by 2033, with the new Klipfontein and Belhar regional...
FDA green-lights chronic lung disease treatment
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved oral brensocatib (Brinsupri) as the first treatment for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis in adults and children 12...
SA pharmacies support flavoured vape ban
Regulation of e-cigarettes in this country is long overdue, with flavoured vapes, especially, being described by the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA) as “bait”,...
HRT shortage leaves women struggling
A worldwide shortage of hormone replacement therapy medication is affecting women around the globe, leaving them unable to find relief from menopausal symptoms that...
Vet council reports Minister for ‘overstepping’ his mandate
The SA Veterinary Council (SAVC) has accused Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen of seeking to de-legitimise its free and fair elections and has written to...
Experts oppose Kennedy’s hepatitis B jab theories
Scathing American public health experts are pushing back against doubts and criticisms about the hepatitis B vaccine spread by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy...