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News Update
Unemployed doctors labelled ‘too fussy’ about job placements
Young doctors who have completed their studies make excuses not to work in rural areas where they are placed, and find themselves unemployed because...
Covid drug Paxlovid now approved for use in SA
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) gave the green light this week for Pfizer’s Paxlovid, an antiviral medication designed for Covid-19 that...
Back to drawing board for HIV vaccine after latest setback
It's back to square one for the scientists leading the research on the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Mosaico vaccine – the only HIV vaccine...
Deadly diet pill reclassified as poison after 33 people die
More than 30 people in the UK have died after ingesting a highly toxic chemical compound used in slimming pills, most of which are...
Doctors warn about ageing side-effects of diabetes weight-loss drugs
Doctors are warning about “Ozempic face”, a possible side effect of using prescription diabetes drugs both as a weight-loss method and without the proper...
World ‘dangerously unprepared’ for another pandemic: Red Cross
Despite Covid-19 killing more people than any earthquake, drought or hurricane in history, the world is “dangerously unprepared” for future pandemics, the International Federation...
Whooping cough cases still rising
Whooping cough (pertussis) cases in South Africa continue to rise dramatically, with cases doubling in just a few weeks, and officials warning that a...
Expert calls for Pollsmoor revamp to control TB spread
Cape Town alone notifies more TB cases than the whole of the USA, UK and Switzerland do every year.
Additionally, says Professor Linda-Gail Bakker, director...
Face mask firms referred to Competition Tribunal for collusion
At the height of the pandemic, two face mask suppliers allegedly colluded to exploit Takealot.com’s listing algorithm to maximise profits, according to the Competition...
Autistic teen suffers fatal heart attack after spraying deodorant
The parents of a 14-year-old British girl who died after inhaling aerosol deodorant want clearer product labelling to warn people of the potential dangers,...
Man throws urine at clinic staff after long wait
A man who was apparently fed up with his four-hour wait at a clinic while nurses sat and chatted over lunch, lost his temper...
Guinea worm disease eradication in sight
The painful and debilitating tropical condition that once affected millions of people in Africa and Asia could be the first to be wiped out...
India launches its first nasal Covid vaccine
India has introduced its first Covid vaccine inhalant, iNCOVACC made by Bharat Biotech, and administered in the form of drops which then stimulate an immune response...
Booster jabs available, says Health Department
The Department of Health has renewed its calls for all eligible South Africans to have Covid-19 booster shots, with spokesperson Foster Mohale saying they...
Global WHO award for SA for malaria elimination
South Africa has been recognised on the global stage for its malaria-elimination efforts, being among the first recipients of a Word Health Organisation (WHO) award...
MSF staffer filmed among meat truck looters in KZN
A police investigation is under way after a video showing scores of people, among them a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) employer in a branded...
North Korea issues five-day lockdown over ‘winter flu’
Authorities in the North Korean capital Pyongyang have ordered a five-day lockdown after rising cases of an unspecified respiratory illness, the Russian embassy and...
SA needs R200bn to fix hospitals before NHI roll-out, says Phaahla
South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) plan won’t be taking shape any time soon as the government needs to lay its hands on around...
ICU nurses at Charlotte Maxeke waiting for pay from last year
Problems are never-ending at the beleaguered hospital which, two years after the devastating fire, crippling theft and corruption, is now grappling with major issues...
Juicy R500 000 Tembisa hospital chicken tender allegedly irregular
The ongoing Special Investigating Unit’s probe into the hundreds of dodgy payments at Tembisa Hospital has found that half a million rands was paid...
Idle clinic staff get tongue-lashing from Limpopo Health MEC
A social media video showing Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba berating senior managers at Rethabile Clinic in Polokwane for sitting idle while patients wait...
Healthcare workers tell of the devastating toll of rolling power cuts
Healthcare workers are continuing to take strain from rolling power blackouts, with complications ranging from from non-functioning life support machines to essential medications going...
J&J discontinues HIV vaccine trial
A year after a Johnson & Johnson HIV vaccine failed a study, the company is again pulling the plug on a second late-stage global trial...
With millions due to expire, govt urges booster jab take-up
In an effort to use up its huge surplus of millions of Covid-19 vaccines, the national Department of Health is launching a fresh round...
Dentists warn of permanent damage from 'aligners' ordered online
British dentists and orthodontists have warned that customers of so-called remote dentistry risk being damaged by wearing clear braces or “aligners” ordered online if...
FDA denies accelerated approval for Alzheimer’s drug
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has refused accelerated approval for the investigational anti-amyloid donanemab (Eli Lilly) for early Alzheimer’s disease treatment because of...
Change in work hours suggested after heat stroke deaths
The recent heatwave was responsible for the deaths of seven farmworkers in the Northern Cape, where, in the Kakamas area, temperatures rose to 50...
DA calls for new security at Charlotte Maxeke hospital
After yet another massive copper cable theft from the beleaguered Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, the DA in Gauteng has called for the institution’s security company...
Latest WHO guidelines advises masks in enclosed areas
The wearing of face masks is still recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its latest set of guidelines on the pandemic, particularly...
FDA proposes annual Covid jab, like flu shot
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed an annual Covid shot for healthy adults, similar to the flu immunisation campaign, in efforts...
WHO probes raw materials link in lethal cough syrups
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is seeking more information about the raw materials used by six manufacturers that produced contaminated cough syrups linked to...
Discovery launches fund to boost screening and preventative healthcare
Taking up the cudgels against preventable diseases, Discovery Health Medical Scheme is using unprecedented reserves to launch The Wellth Fund, giving all members one-off...
New surge unlikely as 80% of Chinese population infected with Covid
A leading scientist in China says the Lunar New Year travel rush starting this past weekend was unlikely to lead to a surge in...
Convicted Theranos CEO a flight risk, say prosecutors opposing appeal
Former start-up company Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is a flight risk and should not be allowed to stay out of prison while she appeals...
Malawi runs out of cholera vaccines as cases rise
Malawi, which is seeing a surge of cholera cases, has used up all of the 2.9m cholera vaccines in the country, and health officials...
Lassa fever cases rise in Nigeria
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has reported that Lassa fever cases are continuing to rise across the country, with Edo...
Bureaucracy strangles specialist nurse supply in SA
South Africa has a shortage of 62 000 nurses, with about 50% of them being specialised nurses, and the crisis is worsening, the government’s...
Gospel star linked to Gauteng hospital tender gravy train
Gospel singer Xolani Jwaga, whose events company received more than R1.4m of the R50m spent in allegedly corrupt procurement initiated by suspended Tembisa Hospital...
Gauteng EMS plagued by attacks and shortages
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Gauteng face a daily battle with attacks on paramedics, service delivery protests, budget constraints, staff shortages, crime and inaccessible areas,...
Global healthcare systems struggling under increasing pressures
South Africa is not alone in buckling under a myriad challenges in its healthcare system as similar pressures place strain on public health systems...