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News Update
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...
Marburg disease strikes Tanzania, kills five
Tanzania has confirmed that five people have died in its first ever cases of Marburg, the high fatality haemorrhagic disease with similar symptoms to...
Avian flu shots prepped for humans ‘just in case’
Despite global health officials saying the risk of transmission of a new strain of avian flu from birds to humans is low, leading vaccine...
Kusile gets the nod to release more pollutants
Despite health or environmental impacts, Eskom’s Kusile Power Station has been granted an exemption from complying fully with national air quality regulations and allowed...
WHO director of Western Pacific office fired over abuse claims
The director of the World Health Organisation’s Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) has been fired after a prolonged investigation of allegations of abusive conduct...
Gauteng partners with private sector to reduce cancer backlog
Although the Gauteng Department of Health’s budget has been decreased by 2% for the 2023/34 year, shrinking from R61bn last year to R60bn, a...
Hospital faces switch-off over allegedly wrongly directed utilities bill
Mankweng Hospital in Limpopo is about to have its water and lights cut off over a R53m bill for outstanding rates payments which has...
WHO flags worrying migration of health workers from poor countries
Pre-Covid, there was already a trend of nurses and other health workers fleeing Africa and southeast Asia for better jobs in wealthier countries, but...
Free State Health HoD still in charge despite corruption charges
Despite Free State Health Department head Godfrey Mahlatsi facing corruption charges, he is still in the job, and while new Premier Mxolisi Dukwana vowed...
NGO says nurse violated human rights, ‘licence must be withdrawn’
The Eastern Cape Health Department has been urged by an NGO, the Passionate Unlimited Peers in Action (Pupa), to revoke a nurse’s licence after...
Huge strides by Cape hospital in reducing surgical backlogs
Efforts to reduce a surgical backlog at Cape Town’s Karl Bremer Hospital are paying off, and despite challenges like extremely high patient numbers, particularly...
FDA pulls controversial pre-term birth drug
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has withdrawn from the market the drug Makena, the only medication ever approved – in 2011 –...
India issues product ban after cough syrup deaths
Drug manufacturers in India have been prohibited from using propylene glycol sourced from the Delhi-based firm that supplied the ingredient to Marion Biotech, whose...
Pepfar changes strategy, empowers Africa in HIV battle
South Africa is among nearly 30 African countries receiving billions of dollars in HIV/Aids funding from the US Government, all of which, thanks to...
'Smart fridge' to expedite blood supplies
A smart blood fridge, aimed at reducing turnaround times for patients to receive blood, has been launched by the South African National Blood Services...