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News Update
US surgeons get pointers from SA
The US is following in the footsteps of South Africa as surgeons are preparing to perform a penile transplant, with the University of Stellenbosch providing advice.
WHO finds mixed results on health goals
This year's World Health Statistics – published by the World Health Organisation – assesses progress towards the health-related goals in each of the 194 countries for which data are available.
WHO wants socially acceptable disease names
New human diseases should be given socially acceptable names which do not offend people and countries or mention animals, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
SA doctors face ruin as Fund falters
Financial ruin threatens some medical practitioners as the largest company handling Compensation Fund claims has suspended its pre-funding services because of the fund’s failure to make payments. Business Day reports that CompSol's temporary withdrawal of its prepayment services means the medical practitioners including doctors, radiographers and occupational therapists who are among its clients, will have to wait a long time for payment for their services provided to injured or ill workers. CompSol handles 40%-60% of all medical claims against the fund.
Noakes article removed, then reinstated
Diet guru Prof Tim Noakes failed to declare conflict of interest in British Journal of Sport Medicine editorial, causing an 'expression of concern' followed by the article being removed. It has now been reinstated with a notice outlining competing interests by the authors.
SA's successful vaccine roll out
South Africa's expensive pneumococcal vaccine roll out has cut childhood hospitalisations due to meningitis, pneumonia and rotavirus by about 70% in just five years
WHO slammed for weak Ebola response
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has received harsh criticism for its weak response to Ebola. Professor Peter Piot, former head of UNAIDS, said that while the world needed a WHO, 'it cannot continue the way it has been'.
SA paying millions for 'not getting it right'
Multimillion-rand negligence claims against the Department of Health have increased nine-fold since 2013, according to Stellenbosch University Professor Ethelwynn Stellenberg.
Liberia Ebola-free but vigilance urged
Liberia has been declared free from Ebola after 42 days without a new case of the virus, which killed more than 4,700 people there during a year-long epidemic.
WHO fight against antimicrobial resistance
Only a quarter of countries that responded to a World Health Organisation (WHO) survey have national plans to preserve antimicrobial medicines like antibiotics.
Office of Health Standards waits for teeth
The Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) will only get its teeth once national norms and standards for facilities have been adopted. A draft was published in February and people have until 18 May to submit comments.
New staff after man dies waiting for a bed
Following media coverage of coverage of a man who died after waiting 12 hours for a bed, 27 new health workers have been appointed to the Natalspruit Hospital east of Johannesburg.
FDA double take on double chins
The US Food and Drug Administration has for the first time approved a treatment for double-chins.
SA surgeons saving lives in Nepal
South African surgeons have conducted 68 life-saving operations since they touched down in earthquake-struck Nepal last week
A fifth of world's children not vaccinated
One fifth of the world's children still do not receive routine vaccinations that could prevent 1.5m deaths a year from preventable diseases, the World Health Organisation says.
Billions have no access to surgery
Two-thirds of the world's population have no access to safe and affordable surgery, according to a study – more than double the number in previous estimates.
Warning on BMPEA diet supplements
The US Food and Drug Administration has warned five companies to stop selling dietary supplements containing an unapproved stimulant known as beta-methylphenylethylamine, (BMPEA). An investigation found nine out of 21 supplements containing Acacia rigidula also contained BMPEA, even though the plant itself does not contain the substance.
Dr Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School said the warnings do not go far enough since they cover only those products that explicitly list BMPEA on the label. Many products use Acacia rigidula as code and do not mention BMPEA, which is an amphetamine-like substance that has been shown to raise blood pressure and heart rate in animals and is classified as a doping agent by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
US alert on Hep C, HIV and injection drug risk
US health officials alerted to watch for clusters of HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users.
Warning on hepatitis C medicine risk
European health regulators have warned against using Gilead Sciences' and Bristol-Myers Squibb's hepatitis C medicines along with amiodarone, a drug used to regulate arrhythmia.
SA prison health care 'compromised' – NGO
The health needs of South Africa's almost 160,000 prisoners and remand detainees are in the hands of only 818 professional nurses, 11 doctors, 24 pharmacists and 24 psychologists.
Drug works against current Ebola strain
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston's Thomas Geisbert has just published a study offering the first evidence that a drug developed to fight Ebola works against the strain causing the current outbreak in West Africa, reports The Daily Telegraph. The drug is now being tested in Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.
Scientists say they have developed the first successful treatment for Ebola, which works up to three days after exposure to the virus.
UK call for blanket ban on designer vaginas
A blanket ban should be introduced on so-called designer vagina surgery on under-18s to meet concerns that the British law which prohibits female genital mutilation is ambiguous, an influential group of MPs has found.
SA's scarcity of transplant donors
SA doctors report increasing difficulty in finding suitable donors, reports Business Day. The annual rate of heart transplants in SA has halved in the past 20 years, as public lack of awareness, deteriorating medical infrastructure and reservations among healthcare professionals 'combine with deadly effect'.
Non-invasive treatment for emphysema now in SA
Emphysema sufferers can now undergo a ground-breaking non-invasive procedure, known as Lung Volume Reduction Coil a procedure recently performed for the first time in Africa.
Condo ms in multi-flavours and colours
The SA government will be distributing multi-flavoured condoms in a bid to increase youth condom usage. They will be available in strawberry, banana and grape and it will also be brightly coloured
Measles sceptic ordered to pay up in Germany
A German biologist who offered €100,000 to anyone who could prove that measles is a virus has been ordered by a court to pay up. Stefan Lanka, who believes the illness is psychosomatic, made the pledge four years ago on his website.
Longer HIV survival triggers insurer payout
As people with HIV now live longer than expected, Old Mutual plans to release reserves it has built up in its funeral insurance policies, to the benefit of lower-income customers.
Project to find best drugs for HIV, TB and malaria
The Global Health Impact project was started approximately seven years ago with the mission to give people across the world access to the best drugs to fight HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.
Two-shot Ebola vaccine being tested
Scientists are to test a new two-shot Ebola vaccine using an experimental shot from GlaxoSmithKline, which is already in clinical trials in Africa, and a new kind of booster from Emergent BioSolutions.
Doubts raised over NHI feasibility
Four years into implementing National Health Insurance (NHI), the Department of Health has failed to persuade significant numbers of private sector general practitioners to work in its facilities, raising doubts about its feasibility, reports Business Day.
Pakistanis refusing polio vaccine arrested
Pakistani authorities have conducted their first-ever mass arrest of parents for refusing to allow their children to be vaccinated against polio.
UK pioneers cell therapy for lung cancer
British patients will be the first in the world to receive a pioneering cell therapy that scientists hope will transform the treatment of lung cancer.
Ebola hero nurse faces misconduct scrutiny
The British nurse who risked her life treating Ebola victims and came close to death when she contracted the disease herself has been summoned for a hearing by the nursing regulator over whether her symptoms were concealed when she arrived back home.
Free sugar intake must be reduced – WHO
Adults and children should reduce their daily free sugar – glucose, fructose, sucrose and table sugar – intake to less than 10% of their total energy intake, according to a new guideline from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Tool visualises body SIV replication live
A non-invasive method has been developed to image simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) replication in real-time, in vivo. This allows for the capture of viral dynamics of SIV, the animal model of human HIV infection.
Too few black bone marrow donors in SA
Black South Africans make up about 47% of all cancer patients but only 5% of donors in the nation's bone marrow registry.
Global strategy to combat hepatitis C
Worldwide leaders have come together in Geneva, Switzerland at the World Health Organisation to begin to develop a five-year strategy to combat hepatitis C.
Cardiothoracic surgical outcomes made public
The US Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) has for the first time made publicly accessible its database of surgical outcomes and ratings. 'We believe that our patients and their families have the right to know the outcomes of cardio-thoracic surgery procedures so that they can make well-informed decisions,' a spokesman said.
SA nursing shortage drives health costs
SA's critical shortage of nurses has serious implications for the implementation of a nurse-dependent National Health Insurance(NHI) system, but also appears to be a significant cost driver for the private hospital sector, according to a Mediclinic submission to an private healthcare costs inquiry.
Investment in 'neglected' tropical diseases
Scaling up investment to tackle leprosy, dengue fever, sleeping sickness and other neglected tropical diseases would improve the health and well-being of more than 1.5bn people, says a new World Health Organisation report.