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News Update
Africa's first virtual angioedema centre launched in Africa
The University of Cape Town’s Lung Institute, Allergy & Immunology Unit has launched the Sinovuyo South African Virtual Angioedema Centre, the first of its...
Umlazi hospital’s taps flowing again
Piped water began flowing again this past Sunday at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi, south of Durban, after a fortnight of no water,...
Measles detected in Western Cape
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says four laboratory-confirmed measles cases were reported in Cape Town between 24 January and 17 February but...
Erectile dysfunction drug prices dropping
Treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) is becoming more affordable in South Africa as the drug prices continue to fall, with increased competition in the market leading...
UK chemists to sell controversial weight loss jab
British chemists will soon be able to sell a controversial weight loss jab used by numerous celebrities, including Elon Musk, and which contains the...
US anti-vax doctor's licence in the balance
The licence of Dr Simone Gold, founder of the controversial America’s Frontline Doctors, is at stake after the Medical Board of California (MBC) filed...
SA stocks of diabetes drug drained after global weight loss frenzy
People with type 2 diabetes in South Africa have been left without one of their cheapest and most effective treatments because doctors are now...
Rise in number of young South Africans seeking help for cannabis abuse
There’s been a significant climb in the numbers of cannabis users seeking substance abuse treatment in South Africa, fanning the flames of an already...
Health experts urge FDA review of fast-tracked Alzheimer’s drug
Doctors and scientists want the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to convene an expert panel to review safety concerns around an Alzheimer’s drug that won fast-track...
More health issues and deaths from heatwaves, MRC scientists warns
The recent debilitating heatwave linked to the deaths of seven Northern Cape farmworkers is just one indication of what South Africa could experience in...
Critical shortage of ADHD medication in US and demand rises
As America’s nationwide Adderall shortage enters its fifth month, people relying on medication for ADHD are finding few, if any, available alternatives, and pharmaceutical experts...
Delayed probe into Tembisa, other hospitals, is ‘fishy’, says DA
The delay in the presidential proclamation needed to expand the probe into the Tembisa Hospital payments scandal, exposed by slain Gauteng Health whistle-blower Babita...
Alarm at low condom use among SA youth
The low rate of condom usage by South African youth is worrying experts, who point out that not only does it contribute to the...
Stop political meddling in hospitals – KZN Health MEC
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has warned the public not to use hospitals as political playgrounds, after a group from a local community demonstrated...
Eskom’s air pollution risks 80 000 lives – Finnish research
Toxic air pollution being emitted by Eskom’s coal-fired power plants could kill 79 500 people, from 2025 until they are due to be shut,...
Reports by experts slam ‘underhand, exploitative’ milk formula marketing
Millions of women are being prevented from breastfeeding because of “exploitative” and “underhand” marketing of formula milk, according to a series of reports published in...
Third cholera case in Gauteng, African cases surge
The Gauteng Department of Health confirmed a third case of cholera last week, the first cases being two sisters who had travelled to a...
Floods destroy generators at two Eastern Cape hospitals
Flash floods that hit Komani, Eastern Cape, last Wednesday, have destroyed generators at both of the the town’s hospitals, with patients from one facility...
Free STI home tests on the cards for SA
Big changes are coming in South Africa’s fight against sexually transmitted infections, according to a draft of government's fifth HIV action plan, enabling free...
Free State hospital dilapidated, with broken windows, leaking ceilings
Nurses downed tools last week over poor conditions at Boitumelo Regional Hospital in Kroonstad, where crumbling infrastructure is hampering patient care, and where buckets...
Tembisa tender tycoon now under scrutiny over blue-lights cavalcade
Tembisa Hospital tender tycoon Vusimuzi Matlala – whose companies earned contracts worth some R5m that were red-flagged by Babita Deokaran and who is already...
Depression during and after pregnancy needs more attention, says obstetrician
Half of expectant mothers in South Africa experience undiagnosed and untreated depression during pregnancy and after childbirth, that risks their own and their babies’...
KZN paramedics robbed at gunpoint
An armed gang held up two paramedics who were responding to a call just after midnight last week in the Shongweni area in KwaZulu-Natal.
The...
Equatorial Guinea confirms Marburg virus outbreak
Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease this week, with preliminary tests carried out after the deaths of at least nine...
Life Healthcare considers offers for European subsidiary
Life Healthcare has appointed Barclays and Goldman Sachs to evaluate unsolicited offers for its diagnostic imaging services subsidiary Alliance Medical Group (AMG), it announced this...
Surgery marathons to tackle Gauteng backlogs
With more than 32 000 patients on lengthy lists awaiting surgery, the Gauteng Department of Health has vowed to clear the backlogs at local...
Top medical aid schemes rated by customers
Medical aid schemes customer satisfaction levels were mostly on the rise, according to the findings of the consultancy group Consulta's latest South African Customer...
Medical experts in plea to exempt child health services from budget cuts
More than 100 doctors, healthcare workers, academics and child advocacy groups have released a joint statement addressed to government, raising the alarm about the...
Fake medicines kill half a million Africans every year
Trafficked and fake medical products are killing almost 500 000 sub-Saharan Africans every year, and urgent action is needed to stem the flow, the...
US recall on eye drops after severe drug-resistant infection
Risks of permanent vision loss and death due to possible contamination have led to a product recall by the US Centres for Disease Control...
Clinics discriminate against sex workers, gays, other groups – survey
A survey of more than 9 000 people by Ritshidze has found that sex workers, drug users and gay people, as well as those...
Umlazi hospital patients and staff struggle with water outage
Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi, south of Durban, has been without water for several days after a pipe burst, with patients thirsty and...
Best-selling vape stripped from UK shelves over illegal nicotine levels
Chinese company Elf Bar, which produces Britain’s best-selling vape that is used illegally by tens of thousands of children, has admitting to breaking the...
Big pharma in payment stand-off over millions of unwanted Covid vaccines
Not only have mega-large drug companies declined to refund $1.4bn in advance payments from poor countries for now-cancelled Covid-19 doses, but separately, Johnson &...
Breakthrough cardiac surgery now also at East London hospital
East London’s Life St Dominic’s Hospital has introduced groundbreaking surgery in its cardiac treatment, which until now has been available only in the Western...
SA records two cholera cases
Two cases of cholera have been recorded in South Africa, attributed to two sisters from Johannesburg who visited Malawi for a funeral, according to...
Three arrested with stolen HIV drugs
Three men were arrested in Bloemfontein last week in possession of antiretrovirals worth R85 000, which had been stolen from a clinic in Boshof.
Lieutenant-Colonel...
MSF staffer out on bail over alleged meat looting
A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) driver was one of two people arrested and who appeared in the Melmoth Magistrate’s Court last Wednesday on theft...
Missing patient found hanged at Limpopo hospital
A mental healthcare patient who had been reported missing at Hayani Psychiatric Hospital in Limpopo was found five days later, hanging from a bed...
African countries commit to end child Aids deaths by 2030
Twelve African countries, including South Africa, plan to end Aids in children by 2030 through HIV testing, treatment and prevention programmes, the goal, initiated...