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News Update
COVID cases at lowest level since March 2020, says WHO
The World Health Organization says the number of new COVID-19 cases has dropped dramatically, and has urged the world to seize the opportunity to...
Arm amputation for ex-wife of Zimbabwean vice-president after medical travel denied
The ex-wife of Zimbabwe Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga has had her right arm amputated after being denied permission to leave the country to seek medical...
US Congress grills Facebook over patients’ health data privacy breach
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is being quizzed over its access to sensitive medical data after an investigation by Markup –...
SA patients suffer and pharmacies under pressure as essential medicines run low
The aftershocks of COVID-19’s stranglehold on the global supply chain are affecting the availability of some essential medicines in South Africa, with medical associations...
Confirmation of second GBS death after J&J jab brings closure for widow
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has confirmed that a second person has died from Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) after receiving the Johnson &...
State refuses to reimburse pharmacies for extra Pfizer doses
South Africa’s Independent Community Pharmacy Association, with some 1 200 members, is fuming after the national Health Department’s refusal to cover the costs of...
Phaahla to speed up process for critical skills appointments
Health Minister Joe Phaahla has said once all the required documents for critical skills endorsement letters have been received, the turnaround time to process...
Hospitals’ audit unrelated to Deokaran’s report: Health Department
A recent random compliance audit of Gauteng Hospitals, including Tembisa, was not linked to whistle-blower Babita Deokaran’s report into the splurging of R850m from...
COVID jab for SA’s high-risk 5-11-year-olds
SA’s Paediatric Association is expected to welcome the Health Department’s decision to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to high-risk children aged 5-11, and those susceptible to...
Health professionals targeted by formula milk companies to push products
A local expert says there is an urgent need to strengthen lactation education and knowledge of breastfeeding benefits, suggesting health science students could be...
Health Department launches online system for medical recruits
Medical recruits are now able to register online for 2023 internships and community service after the Department of Health (DOH) opened its new digital...
Inhaled COVID booster vaccine gets the nod in China
The national Medical Products Administration of China has granted CanSinoBiologics approval for its inhaled vaccine to be used as a booster dose, reports BBC...
Children's deaths in The Gambia linked to either paracetamol or E.coli
The Government of The Gambia is investigating the recent deaths of dozens of children from kidney failure – 28 deaths by early August but...
SAFA chief medic threatened after concussed footballer taken off field
After SA Football Association (SAFA) chief medical officer Dr Thulani Ngwenya ran on to the field in Yaoundé, Cameroon to overrule medical staff and...
Multi-billion rand strategy from WHO to eradicate Africa’s meningitis by 2030
The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that, between now and 2030, about R25.5bn is needed to complete its regional plan to eradicate meningitis in...
Device to detect breast cancer at home wins British design award
A tool for DIY breast cancer detection, designed by two recent graduates, has won the UK James Dyson Award that celebrates, encourages and inspires...
Bara Hospital surgery crisis as waiting list balloons to more than 11 000
The waiting list for surgery at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital has ballooned to the extent that there are now 11 194 patients awaiting operations,...
Medipos threatens to cut SAPO medical aid over R700m debt
The South African Post Office (SAPO), which is technically bankrupt, owes the Medipos medical aid scheme R700m for workers’ contributions, and is likely to...
Ramathuba concedes state’s failure to prevent health system collapse
Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba has acknowledged that leaders could do more to prevent hospitals from becoming overburdened.
In a virtual interview with Zimbabwean journalist...
Charlotte Maxeke hospital blaze an act of arson – forensic report
A report by a senior SAPS forensic investigator has confirmed what many suspected: that the 16 April 2021 fire leading to the closure of...
Purity & Elizabeth Anne recall baby talcs after asbestos trace levels found
Some baby powder products have been recalled from shelves as a precautionary measure after trace levels of asbestos were detected in test samples, said...
Cape Town hospital baby switch discovered 14 years later
Two Cape Town families have discovered that their sons, now aged 14, were accidentally swopped at birth at a local hospital – and are...
Soweto GPs targeted by criminals: 10 armed robberies in five months
Gun-toting robbers have stepped up attacks on private doctors, and the Soweto Independent Practitioners Association has called for more proactive policing, saying there have...
India’s Serum Institute develops its own cervical cancer vaccine
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine maker, has developed the country’s first cervical cancer shot, which will be administered via...
Help centre for sexual assault, GBV victims opened at Cape Town hospital
A Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) – a one-stop facility for survivors of sexual assault, gender-based violence and domestic violence – has been added to...
US reports five cases of swine flu in humans
A health alert has been issued by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warning that five cases of human infection have...
Next SA COVID wave possibly in September, warns expert
Barry Schoub, a leading virologist, has said South Africa should brace itself for a further wave of COVID-19 infections, possibly towards the end of...
Millions of unused, expired COVID vaccines to be destroyed, says Phaahla
The government is expecting to throw away millions of COVID-19 vccines by October when they expire, said Health Minister Joe Phaahla, because of the...
WHO records 1m COVID deaths in 2022
A million people have died from COVID-19 this year despite all the tools to prevent deaths from the virus, the World Health Organisation has...
Tembisa Hospital CFO and Gauteng Health boss suspended as SIU begins probe
Gauteng Health Department CFO Lerato Madyo and Tembisa Hospital CEO Ashley Mthunzi have been suspended with immediate effect, to ensure they don’t “impede the...
Time for hybrid healthcare solutions, expert warns medical schemes
Medical schemes should start planning now if they intend ensuring future sustainability and relevance, warns ASI Financial Services, adding that people are now seeking...
Operation Dudula protesters force migrants to pay for healthcare
Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba's recent rant about foreign nationals burdening the province’s health system has sparked a campaign by “Operation Dudula” targeting public...
Hospitals owe Eastern Cape municipality millions
Matatiele municipality, which falls under the Alfred Nzo District Municipality and serves the communities of Matatiele, Cedarville and Maluti, is owed R2 085 934.95...
AstraZeneca shifts focus from COVID vaccines to oncology, CVD treatments
AstraZeneca, whose COVID vaccine has still not been approved in the US, is on the hunt to buy small and mid-sized companies specialising in...
One year on, still no answers for man's GBS death after J&J vaccine
The wife of Capetonian Larry Davids, who fell ill 10 days after his J&J COVID vaccination, and who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)...
US nurse resigns after tweet over Viagra refusal to ‘white conservative men’
An American advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) from Illinois who vowed on Twitter she would refuse to prescribe Viagra (sildenafil) to white conservative male...
African Health Ministers plan for escalation of quality healthcare
Quicker response to infectious and chronic diseases, and increased urgency to reach critical targets by 2030 to strengthen their ability to prepare, detect and...
Another lockdown in China after new, small outbreaks
China has placed millions of its citizens under renewed lockdown after fresh outbreaks of COVID-19, with the government persisting in its hardline policy on...
Mother dies and diarrhoea rife in community after polluted tap water
Polluted tap water in Mariannhill, outside Durban, is responsible not only for dozens of people suffering chronic stomach problems, but now, probably, also for...
Tembisa Hospital pays footballer and wife R500,000 for skinny jeans contract
Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the killing of whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, whose discovery of massive fraud and corruption at Tembisa Hospital led to...