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News Update
Africa’s medical system risks ‘collapse’, warns health leader
Health services in Africa are at risk of “collapse in the next few years” due to soaring chronic diseases, a senior public health leader has warned.
Foreign...
US university loses patent fight with SA generics company
The University of California’s (UC) governing board has suffered a legal setback in South Africa after a High Court revoked its patent over a...
Boy (5) killed in hyperbaric chamber explosion
A five-year-old Michigan boy was killed last week while he was inside a hyperbaric chamber that exploded, killing him instantly.
CBS News reports that when...
FDA expands access for schizophrenia drug
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has eliminated a longstanding requirement that patients taking clozapine, an anti-psychotic used for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, to submit...
Sweden may green-light home abortions
A Swedish Government-commissioned investigation has recommended a legislative change that would allow home abortions without requiring patients to visit a clinic for their first...
Mpox cases rise to 28 in SA
The National Health Department has announced that three new cases of mpox have been confirmed in South Africa – all from Ekurhuleni.
The first case,...
Ugandan intern doctors angry over plan to end sponsorships
A planned policy by the Ugandan Ministry of Health to stop sponsoring recently graduated intern doctors has sparked widespread unrest among medical students, supported...
'Piecemeal' HMI implementation won't bring down costs, say experts
More than five years after the Health Market Inquiry’s final report was published, the government has taken its first steps towards acting on the...
Commission’s probe into insulin market ‘long overdue’
Health activists have welcomed the Competition Commission’s announcement that it will launch an investigation into two pharmaceutical giants regarding potential anti-competitive practices in the...
Hospital Covid renovation contracts ‘illegal, unlawful’ – Tribunal
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has declared decisions by the Gauteng Departments of Health and Infrastructure Development enabling 12 companies to earn R93m from...
UNAIDS supports SA's HIV medicines drive
UNAIDS said it welcomes South Africa’s plans to put an additional 1.1m people with HIV on life-saving treatment by the end of 2025 as...
NHS warning after deaths tied to obesity drugs
The medical director of the NHS has warned that 82 people in the UK have died after taking drugs for diabetes and weight loss,...
Police hunt for hijackers who raped EMS worker
Western Cape police are intensifying their search for seven men who hijacked an ambulance and raped one of the emergency medical services (EMS) staff...
Girl (12) on ventilator in critical condition from vaping habit
A 12-year-old girl in Thailand who vaped for two years – without her parents’ knowledge – has been diagnosed with severe lung damage and...
Hand, foot and mouth disease spreads to East London
The Eastern Cape Department of Health has reported 13 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases in the Buffalo City metropolitan municipality,...
Warning about potential air travel effects on insulin pumps
An alert has been issued by Medtronic about possible fluctuations in insulin pump delivery during changes in air pressure during, for example, aeroplane take-offs...
WHO launches free cancer meds for children in low-income countries
The World Health Organisation has launched a new platform providing cost-free cancer medicines for thousands of children living in low- and middle-income countries, whose...
Hackers target Aussie IVF giant in data breach
One of Australia’s largest IVF providers, Genea, is urgently investigating a cyber-attack that may have exposed the data of thousands of families and expectant...
Pfizer discontinues costly haemophilia B gene therapy
Less than a year after approval, Pfizer is planning to discontinue its haemophilia B gene therapy fidanacogene elaparvovec (Beqvez) across all global markets, citing...
Rain wreaks havoc on Eastern Cape facilities
Heavy rains in the Alfred Nzo District, Eastern Cape, last week, disrupted services at three hospitals, three clinics, a community health centre and a...
Ebola outbreak in Uganda under control
The recent outbreak of Ebola in Uganda has been deemed “contained”, according to the Minister of Health, after the announcement that eight patients who...
FDA places two Indian manufacturers on import alerts
The FDA has prohibited two Indian API manufacturers from shipping products to the US, with the agency reporting it found bare footprints in one...
FDA green-lights rapid-acting insulin biosimilar product
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Merilog (insulin-aspart-szjj) as a biosimilar to Novolog (insulin aspart) for the improvement of glycaemic control...
Trump’s aid cuts halt crucial SA-led HIV vaccine trials
Critical South African-led HIV research, the outcome of which could affect millions of people worldwide, has been stopped in its tracks at a vital...
New coalition awaits state response on reworked universal healthcare model
Government has so far failed to respond to proposals by the Universal Healthcare Access Coalition (UHAC) for healthcare reform before the National Health Insurance...
Landmark deal jumpstarts Africa’s vaccine production
In a deal inked in Cairo last week and backed by a $1.2bn investment from Gavi, the vaccine alliance, an end-to-end mRNA vaccine production platform...
WHO scrabbles to comply with Trump demands
New challenges are looming for the WHO and its partners since the Trump administration’s orders have resulted in chaos and the collapse of USAID...
Grade 3 girl dies after eating toxic chips
A seven-year-old Brakpan girl has died from multiple organ failure, allegedly linked to a packet of chips contaminated with a deadly insecticide that was...
Union calls for HRC to probe into ‘human rights violations’ in KZN
The Public Servants Association (PSA) wants the Public Protector and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to investigate a list of alleged health violations, including...
Hand, foot and mouth disease on the rise at Durban schools
The number of confirmed reports of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Durban schools has more than tripled in a week, with the...
125-year-old Eastern Cape hospital in dire straits
The shocking and dilapidated state of a rural Eastern Cape hospital that was built in 1900 led to angry locals protesting outside the facility...
Nurse accused of raping two boys
A “trusted” nurse accused of the rape and sexual assault of two teenagers will appear in the Nigel Magistrate’s Court tomorrow after his bail...
FDA alert for mix-ups tied to spinal jabs
The US Food & Drug Administration says it continues to receive reports of tranexamic acid injection being erroneously administered intrathecally instead of the intended...
UK to slash funding contribution to Gavi
The prediction that Britain is likely to cut funding to global vaccination group Gavi – which has inoculated more than 1bn children in developing...
Patient with oxygen mask dies in fire after lighting cigarette
A patient died after lighting a cigarette while apparently wearing an oxygen mask – which then sparked a fire – said the KwaZulu-Natal Department...
New app helps graduates find work experience
Profmed, the medical aid for professionals, is connecting graduate doctors with locum opportunities to strengthen the country’s healthcare system.
In South Africa, patients often travel...
Ramaphosa urged to escalate action on US funding crisis
A coalition of civil society groups has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to lead a co-ordinated response to prevent “mass healthcare disruptions, preventable deaths, and surges...
Officials fired for Anglo Ashanti Hospital fraud and corruption
The Gauteng Government has fired five of the nine senior managers from the Gauteng Departments of Health and Infrastructure Development who were implicated in...
Still no CEOs for Eastern Cape hospitals
Eastern Cape Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa has failed to appoint CEOs for major state hospitals within the first six months of her term, as...
Union accuses Umlazi hospital of human rights abuses
The Public Servant’s Association (PSA) has called on the Human Rights Commission to intervene in a crisis at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi,...