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News Update
Enyobeni tragedy: Methanol detected in bodies of teen victims
Was methanol the lethal ingredient in the free “alcohol” which enticed teenagers to the Enyobeni Tavern on that tragic night? Methanol, a toxic alcohol...
Government's R11bn ARV tender favours non-SA companies, says local body
A local pharmaceutical industry body is questioning why almost half of the main medicines in a three-year R11bn antiretroviral (ARV) tender will be bought...
BA.2.75 subvariant not yet in SA, but mask mandate still an option: Phaahla
A World Health Organisation (WHO) official has confirmed that there is no new COVID-19 variant called ‘Centaurus’, but rather that social media has unofficially...
Global recruitment vital to fill 52% UK doctor vacancies, say physicians
Foreign medics should be given a greater role in plugging Britain’s senior doctor shortage, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has warned, as more...
Gauteng Health considers legal action over sit-in protest
The Gauteng Health Department is considering legal action as protesters stage a sit-in at their Tshwane offices for a third consecutive week, News24 reports.
About...
Mitchells Plain Hospital's alleged negligence blamed for relatives’ deaths
Mitchells Plain District Hospital in Cape Town has come under fire from patients’ families, being accused of inhumane treatment and behaviour, and a lack...
First cases of deadly Marburg virus reported in Ghana
Two cases of the deadly Marburg virus have been identified in Ghana, the first time the disease has been found in the West African...
Bara coughs up R3.4m for generator diesel during 2022 load shedding
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital has spent R3.4m on diesel for its emergency generators this past year, said provincial Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi.
In a written...
Unsafe, ageing Limpopo hospital sends laundry 30km away for washing
While the national Health Department has promised a new hospital will be built by 2028, locals have to contend with dilapidated wards, collapsing roofs,...
Cuban medical school suspends SA students for ‘kidnapping’
An Eastern Cape medical student who was studying in Cuba has pleaded with authorities to allow him to complete his degree after being kicked...
Pharma companies to share data on anti-microbial resistance
Pharmaceutical companies have pledged to share surveillance data on new anti-microbial medicines, such as antibiotics, in a new register launched to combat anti-microbial resistance...
Teens arrested for murder of UFS medical student
Two teenagers, aged 17 and 18, have been arrested in connnection with the murder of medical student Wiseman Mthunzi Zwane, who was stabbed multiple...
R1,2bn shortfall in Gauteng hospital maintenance budget, HRC hears
A senior government officials says budget constraints have led to delays in paying service providers to maintain health facilities in Gauteng.
Bawinile Malope, from them...
Limpopo health chief resigns amid multimillion rand PPE tender probe
Thokozani Mhlongo, head of the Limpopo Health Department, resigned last weekend while she and other officials were being investigated by the Special Investigating Unit...
Arson suspicion in second Charlotte Maxeke fire reignites concerns about its future
The second fire at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) on 5 July has led to renewed questions about progress for the repair and...
Post Office unfit to distribute chronic meds – Pharmacy Association
There has been a surge of protest from pharmacists over the national Health Department’s decision to entrust the South African Post Office with the...
Union plans disruptive protest against Lenmed heart hospital
Routes leading to Durban’s Lenmed eThekwini Hospital and Heart Centre are expected to be the scene of protests on 18 July when the Health...
Continue wearing masks, government warns those at risk
South Africans with comorbidities and those who are ill are encouraged to continue wearing masks, advises the government, warning against complacency since the recent...
Moderna/Pfizer update two vaccines against newer variants
Moderna and rival Pfizer are developing updated vaccines to target the fast-spreading Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which have gained a foothold in the...
Tshwane measles outbreak over – NICD
The measles outbreak in Tshwane is over, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Tuesday, as more than 42 days, or two...
Prioritise cataract surgeries, urge SA experts as backlogs build up
While public health facilities faced backlogs of cataract patients even before the onset of COVID-19, these have since worsened, and doctors say cataract surgery...
Fears for patients’ safety as ‘broken’ NHS mired in staffing crisis
Hospital doctors are being sent home from daytime shifts and told to come back and work overnight in the latest stark illustration of Britain’s...
8,000 jobs on the block with NHS merger
Some 40% of jobs will be lost later this year in the merger between NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Digital.
The jobs being...
Johann Rupert group in Mediclinic takeover bid
A consortium backed by South African billionaire Johann Rupert is preparing a higher takeover bid for Mediclinic, the country’s largest hospital operator, reports News24.
Last...
Prioritise patients, not politicians – DA
Why are ministers exempt from load shedding and hospitals are not? write the DA’s Ghaleb Cachalia and Michele Clarke in Politicsweb.
The DA finds it...
Gauteng Cabinet to meet over ‘I am’ letter about dire hospital conditions
Gauteng Premier David Makhura has said the Cabinet’s Provincial Executive Committee was having a meeting this week to discuss a report on the state...
Cough syrup abuse rife in KZN
South African adolescents are increasingly looking for and experimenting with inexpensive drugs, including over-the-counter cough mixture.
Evidence of this was the recent discovery of thousands...
Ramaphosa urges action to curb teen drinking after tavern tragedy
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on South Africans to do more to combat under-age drinking in the wake of the Enyobeni tavern tragedy in...
Estcourt Hospital staff lugging buckets from tankers for patients’ baths
Major water shortages in the area resulted in Estcourt Hospital staff in northern KwaZulu-Natal having to boil kettles of water in the kitchen which...
Disabled computers lead to George Mukhari hospital bleeding millions
The computer system at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Gauteng has been out of operation since January, resulting in a revenue loss of...
Gauteng community nurses unpaid for three months – Denosa
The Gauteng Health Department has blamed “administrative challenges” for the fact that young nurses in the province have not been paid for three months.
The...
Nehawu opposes Parliament over COVID mandatory jabs
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has rejected an instruction from Parliament to vaccinate staff for COVID-19 or pay for their...
Free 24/7 telehealth service relaunched in Western Cape
A telehealth service called “Hello Doctor”, first introduced in 2019 and then suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been relaunched by the Western...
Online cannabis clinics cut through the red tape
A new development in SA’s medical marijuana industry is the establishment of the country’s first online cannabis clinics.
It’s a new health tech portal allowing...
Healthcare Funders Board in fresh bid to negotiate prices
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) is once again seeking an exemption from the Competition Act’s prohibition on collective bargaining, arguing that allowing medical...
Phaala warns against prejudice as SA records two monkeypox cases
South Africans should not resort to bigotry around monkeypox, health authorities urged after the country’s first case of the disease was confirmed last week....
Cannabis use on a high after legalisation and lockdown – UN report
Cannabis use has increased in US states that have legalised it, according to a UN report, while COVID-19 lockdowns had a similar effect, swelling...
'Highly unlikely' that teenagers died from tavern generator fumes – Health Department
The results of the autopsy to determine the cause of deaths of 21 young people who died at Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park, East...
Fort Beaufort Hospital sections declared health hazards
A large section of Fort Beaufort Provincial Hospital has been shut down by the Eastern Cape Department of Labour, which has deemed 13 wards...
Eastern Cape nurses down tools, demand rural allowance
About 500 nurses and nursing assistants at six hospitals and clinics under the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape protested on Monday,...