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News Update
State working to end hospital blackouts – Ramaphosa
The government is working on exempting hospitals and other critical infrastructure from Eskom’s blackouts, President Cyril Ramaphosa has told the National Council of Provinces,...
Snakebite anti-venom stocks dwindle to 'almost nothing'
South Africa is experiencing a critical shortage of snake anti-venom, lead to bite victims receiving half the prescribed dose – if they’re treated at...
Hawks raid ANC bigwig’s home, offices in Tembisa Hospital tender probe
The Hawks have raided the home and offices of ANC Ekurhuleni treasurer-general Sello Sekhokho, a central figure in the massive R1bn Tembisa Hospital tender...
First brain surgeries in 40 years at Sebokeng Hospital
A newly-established neurosurgical unit has performed two brain surgeries for the first time in four decades at Sebokeng Hospital in Gauteng, reports News24.
The operations...
Obesity drugs may be added to WHO’s essential medicines list
The WHO is considering adding medication that combats obesity to its “essentials medicine list”, which is used to guide government-purchasing decisions in low- and...
Concern as syphilis cases in babies, women, skyrocket in Canada and US
The number of babies born with syphilis is rising at an alarming rate in Canada and the United States, an increase attributed by public...
Low-cost medical aid guidelines on the horizon
The registrar of the Council for Medical Schemes, Dr Sipho Kabane, is hopeful that guidelines for low-cost medical scheme options will be finalised and...
Cholera tests for two Gauteng rivers after baptisms
More cholera cases have been detected in Gauteng, the latest being from a series of baptisms in local rivers, bringing to 10 the total...
Cape waters absorbing chemicals, spurring drug-resistant bacteria
Scientists have flagged the possibility of drug-resistant bacteria and contaminated foods resulting from commonly used medications and pesticides being absorbed by Cape Town’s coastal...
Interns caught in crossfire of 'broken' Port Elizabeth Hospital system
Caught between overworked seniors, understocked basic medical supplies/equipment and turf-protecting nurses, routinely exhausted interns at the Port Elizabeth Hospital complex are toughing it out...
ConCourt rules against Clicks in long battle with independent pharmacies
Clicks has lost its seven-year battle with independent pharmacies over its ownership of both pharmacies and a drug manufacturer, after the Constitutional Court ruled...
Opposition parties walk out in protest during NHI meeting
Furious opposition MPs walked out of Parliament’s Health Committee last week in protest after the chair declined their request to postpone deliberations on the...
Pro bono surgeries in Remgro-Mediclinic deal
The Competition Tribunal has approved the acquisition of Mediclinic by a consortium comprising its shareholder Remgro and Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), with one...
Doctors direct orthopaedic patients to Presidential hotline
Instead of surgery, orthopaedic patients at Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, are being given a letter explaining that they cannot be helped because...
Robotic surgery reduces Cape backlog by 70%
There has been a 70% reduction in the backlog of elective surgeries that had accumulated during the pandemic since June 2022, thanks to robotic...
Nurses will be able to prescribe anti-depressants in SA's new action plan
Among other ambitious goals included in SA’s new five-year (2023-2028) action plan for HIV, TB and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), professional nurses could be...
Millions of Covid shots about to expire
An estimated 3.3m Pfizer jabs from South Africa’s stock of 30m Covid vaccines are due to expire tomorrow, with another 26m doses expiring at...
Gauteng to probe R708m in 'irregular' hospital security contracts
Gauteng Health is to investigate how an estimated R710m is being spent irregularly on security contracts for the province's hospitals every year.
MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko...
Cape teacher in bid to outlaw teen ‘passion gap’ teeth removal
A Western Cape teacher has launched an online petition aimed at halting the extraction of children’s healthy front teeth for the so-called “passion gap”,...
6 000 waiting for wheelchairs, says Health Minister
The Department of Health has a massive wheelchair backlog crisis, with a waiting list of more than 6 000 countrywide, reports the Cape Argus.
Health...
Suspected ‘murder-suicide’ of doctor couple
Limpopo police have opened a murder case and inquest into the suspected murder-suicide of Polokwane’s Dr Mainfred Mphikeleli Shikwambana and his wife, Dr Tshimangadzo...
Three dead and eight blinded from contaminated eye drops
Eye drops contaminated with a rare bacteria have led to the deaths of three people in the US, and resulted in another eight losing...
Extra Covid jabs for 'medium risk' adults no longer vital – WHO
Additional Covid-19 vaccine booster doses for regular, medium-risk adults are no longer being recommended by the World Health Organisation, which says the benefit “is...
Blacklisted firms still allowed to bid for Gauteng Health tenders
Despite 93 companies being blacklisted and implicated in fraud, maladministration and corruption, including those linked by the SIU to the Tembisa Hospital scandal, not...
India cancels licence of company linked to deadly cough syrups
Authorities have “permanently cancelled” the manufacturing licence of an Indian firm that produced cough mixtures linked to 18 child deaths in Uzbekistan after analysis...
Kidnapped Eastern Cape biokineticist back home
A biokineticist from the Eastern Cape who was apparently kidnapped outside a medical practice by armed men nearly two weeks ago has been reunited...
Windy barrister wins thousands of pounds in flatulence case
A flatulent barrister who tried to sue Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has won £135 000 after his working from home request was denied,...
String of resignations from Gauteng Health
Gauteng Health is haemorrhaging skilled senior staff, with the resignation of the head of the department, Nomonde Nolutshungu, along with five other employees, being...
Remgro-Mediclinic bid raises conflict of interest concerns
Concerned academics and healthcare activists have urged the Competition Tribunal to impose tighter conditions to the multibillion-rand takeover of Mediclinic by a Remgro-led consortium,...
WHO warns of oral health crisis in South Africa
South Africa faces an oral health crisis, says the World Health Organisation, with millions suffering from tooth loss, oral cancer and tooth decay, especially...
Sahpra probes cough medicines after global withdrawals
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) is investigating cough medicines containing the opioid pholcodine after authorities in Britain, the European Union and Australia...
Leading medical experts condemn talk by anti-vax doctor in Western Cape legislature
Nearly three dozen leading South African medical professionals and scientists have issued a strong letter of condemnation following a talk last week by controversial...
Nehawu refuses to budge on wage demand after strike
The National Education and Health Workers Union (Nehawu) is one of a minority of unions still holding out for the original demand of an...
State ‘must provide uninterrupted power’ to hospitals, court hears
Public hospitals need the government to provide them with uninterrupted power to avoid a “humanitarian disaster”, a coalition of civil society groups, political parties,...
New oral vaccine linked to African polio cases
For the first time, cases of paralytic polio have been linked to the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), with multiple cases detected...
WHO likely to downgrade Covid-19 to flu status
Consideration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to downgrade Covid-19 from a public health emergency of international concern, its highest level of alert, to...
China accused of hiding Covid data link to animals
The World Health Organisation rebuked Chinese officials last week for withholding research that might link Covid’s origin to wild animals, asking why the data...
No research yet, but Phaahla defends sugar tax
Health Minister Joe Phaahla has admitted that no specific research has been conducted on the effect of the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) on obesity,...
Concern over fast-spreading deadly fungus at US health facilities
A deadly fungus invading US health facilities has exposed the broader problem of patient safety being jeopardised by underfunded and understaffed infection-prevention efforts –...
More insulin producers drop prices
Following Eli Lilly's decision to drop insulin prices, Danish company Novo Nordisk and French pharmaceutical producer Sanofi have announced price slashes of more than...