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News Update
Church group to defy vaccination regulations over Easter weekend
Members of the International Federation of Christian Churches will not adhere to the required proof of vaccination regulations over the Easter weekend.
EWN reports that...
‘Tembisa 10’ story axed from international media awards’ shortlist
Independent Media’s Baby Trade docuseries has been axed as a finalist for a global journalism award. News24 reports that the decision by the International...
Insurers record R2bn increase in claims from COVID-19 deaths
Deaths, loss of income and retrenchment saw SA banks paying out billions in life insurance and death-related claims in 2021 as a result of...
National Health Act replaces SOD but ‘heavy hand’ remains, say critics
All regulations and directions made in terms of SA’s Disaster Management Act after the declaration of the State of Disaster in response to COVID-19...
Viral video leads to investigations at Rahima Moosa Hospital
An investigation has been launched after a video surfaced of pregnant women sleeping on the cold floor at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital...
Final report on UK maternity scandal that led to 100s of brain-damaged or stillborn babies
Being forced to give birth “naturally” in efforts to suppress Caesarean rates, delays in admitting women to labour wards, repeated failures to adequately monitor...
Soweto GP’s murder ‘a hit, not a robbery’, says brother
The family of Dr George Koboka, who was shot and killed last Friday (25 March) at his practice in Diepkloof, Soweto, believes robbery was...
German man takes 87 COVID shots in order to create fake certificates for sale
Unlike in South Africa, Germany doesn’t have a central database for logging COVID-19 vaccines, which is how a man was able to receive around...
Mabuza: SA won’t cross ‘red line’ and force citizens to vaccinate
The government will not force people to vaccinate against COVID-19, said Deputy President David Mabuza last week (Thursday 31 March).
TimesLIVE reports that answering questions...
Crisp says Health budget has to be bigger if NHI goals are to become a reality
In a Q&A with the Sunday Times’ Chris Barron, Dr Nicholas Crisp, Acting Deputy Director-General of the National Health Insurance (NHI), said that while the...
Auditor-General on DoH’s vaccination-spend: Some teething issues but quick footwork
The Auditor-General’s audit of the national Department of Health’s vaccination procurement processes and nationwide rollout found some “teething issues” but paints a generally positive...
CCTV footage shows alleged murderers of Dr George Koboka
CCTV footage shows the events around the murder of Soweto GP Dr George Koboka at his surgery.
CCTV footage shows a group of men entering...
Crisp: Payroll tax, surcharges on personal income tax to fund NHI
Funding for the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) fund will come from various sources, including surcharges on personal income tax, payroll tax, and reallocating...
DoH now concedes that COVID death toll may exceed 250,000
The national Department of Health has admitted the government may be under-reporting COVID-19 deaths, after a SA Medical Research Council report estimating that South...
Auditor-General on DoH’s vaccination-spend: Some teething issues but quick footwork
The Auditor-General’s audit of the national Department of Health’s vaccination procurement processes and nationwide rollout found some “teething issues” but paints a generally positive...
Cancer Alliance research: Gauteng state hospitals’ failures hamper treatment
Research by the Cancer Alliance into backlogs of people waiting for cancer treatment at state hospitals has uncovered evidence of widespread administrative failures,...
Nelson Mandela Bay: Acute malnutrition cases increase while R67m distress grant remains unspent
Hundreds of children are receiving treatment for severe acute malnutrition as communities in Nelson Mandela Bay lose the battle against hunger, intensified by a...
Phaahla: Crime has delayed repairs to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital
Crime is becoming the major obstacle in attempts to accelerate repairs to and refurbishing of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.
Speaking at a media briefing,...
South Africa’s latest COVID-19 regulations ‘go against MAC advice’
Revised COVID-19 regulations announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last Tuesday (22 March) go against the advice from the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC), reports BusinessLIVE.
It writes...
Gauteng’s ‘new’ R1.2bn COVID ICU hospitals lie abandoned and unfinished
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gauteng government has spent a staggering R1.238bn of much-needed COVID-19 funds on the construction of four...
DA questions Modise over Mabuza’s medical trip to Russia
The SA Air Force has not flown Deputy President David Mabuza to Russia since January 2020, according to Defence & Military Veterans Minister Thandi...
SA’s public hospital staffing disaster: 12,000 vacancies for nurses and doctors
South Africa’s public hospitals have more than 10,831 vacancies for nurses and 1,339 unfilled posts for doctors, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla revealed in a...
Surge in assaults on staff by psychiatric patients at Helen Joseph Hospital
Staff at Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg have been exposed to a surge in violent attacks by psychiatric patients, with 32 assaulted in the...
Largest study yet: Ivermectin ‘not clinically effective’ for COVID hospitalisation
In a trial of nearly 1,400 COVID-19 patients, those who received the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin didn’t fare better than those who received a placebo,...
SA’s shortage of public health podiatrists reflected in diabetic foot amputations
There’s a drastic shortage of public health podiatrists in SA, reports Daily Maverick. Currently, there are about 300 podiatrists in South Africa, with only...
Mkhize continues to claim innocence on Digital Vibes allegations
Former Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, apparently eyeing election to the ANC presidency, is pinning his hopes on being able to refute the damning...
Omicron spike puts China’s ‘zero-COVID’ policies under pressure
China and Hong Kong are seeing their largest spike in COVID cases in more than two years, despite pursuing the world’s strictest virus elimination...
Omicron sub-variant BA.2 warning for US as European cases surge
Nearly half of all European countries have recorded increases in new COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to an analysis of data from...
Experts and opposition seethe over yet another State of Disaster extension
The government’s decision to extend the State of Disaster for yet another month has been met with criticism and dismay from health experts and...
SAHPRA approves ‘game-changer’ vaginal ring but DoH still undecided
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has approved the widely hailed vaginal dapivirine ring to protect women from HIV for up to a...
Clinics in crisis as nurses exit Zimbabwe over R1,000 per month salaries
Health clinics in Zimbabwe are facing a crisis as increasing numbers of nurses leave the country in search of better prospects, reports the BBC’s...
Loss of 4,000 COVID posts a body blow to already stretched Gauteng hospitals
Gauteng Health’s decision to not renew numerous contracts of about 4,000 staff appointed temporarily to help hospitals through the COVID-19 pandemic has been met...
Four gunshot wounds but a two-week wait for surgery at George Mukhari Academic Hospital
Godfrey Thulare lay in a ward at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital for two weeks awaiting surgery for the gunshot wound on his leg,...
Doctors feed patients at Bara as supplies run out and medical waste piles up
Doctors are having to take lunch to patients at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg, as a failure to pay food suppliers...
Kenya, Namibia and Netherlands end mandatory masks in public
Kenya’s Health Ministry no longer requires the wearing of face masks in public. However, reports BBC News, it encourages people attending events indoors and...
China: Millions in lockdown as new cases hit two-year high, testing its ‘zero COVID’ resolve
COVID-19 cases are at a two-year high in China as the country posted a steep jump in daily infections, with new cases more than...
Govt bars SA science agencies from comment on Russia-Ukraine conflict
South African science agencies have been ordered by the Department of Science and Innovation not to make public comments about the conflict between Russia...
Frozen posts but Gauteng Health spends R30m on Cuban doctors
While many local doctors are unemployed, and vacant positions frozen, and despite its tardiness in paying its own junior doctors, Gauteng Health spent R30.3m...
Reducing US autopsy caseloads: Photos instead of bodies
The US state of Massachusetts has over recent years increasingly switched to “autopsies” using photographs and medical records rather than the actual bodies to...
Medical schools face PAIA applications over admission requirements
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) applications to South Africaʼs 13 medical schools to ascertain their admissions...