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Preventative Medicine
Future of male contraception under spotlight at French congress
Male contraception, a long-standing and confidential research topic, is gaining momentum. Hormonal, non-hormonal and reversible surgical methods are advancing rapidly, reflecting the growing demand...
Late teens, early 20s, crucial times for lifelong heart health
Emerging adulthood – around 18-25 – is full of major transitions, but also a stage where behaviours that diminish heart health become more common....
SA firms lose out on lenacapavir production
South African companies were excluded from Gilead Science’s voluntary licensing for the anti-HIV drug lenacapavir because those that were evaluated in 2024 did not...
Children’s peanut allergies plummet after new guidelines – US study
Food allergies in children dropped sharply in the years after new guidelines encouraged parents to introduce infants to peanuts, a newly-published study has said.
For...
Pharmacists allowed to dispense ARVs, appeal court rules
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed, with costs, an appeal by a doctor’s organisation, the IPA Foundation, aimed at stopping specially trained...
Vaccines averted 17m deaths in five years, WHO reports
Vaccinations saved the lives of around 17m people between 2021 and 2024, but according to the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on...
Donors enable deal for $40 generic anti-HIV ‘miracle’ drug
Thanks to generous donor support, two Indian manufacturers will be able to mass produce cheap ($40) generic versions of the HIV “miracle” drug lenacapavir...
Rare condition a dangerous complication of flu
Five weeks after Olivia Li turned four, she slipped into unconsciousness, a rare and unexpected consequence of a flu infection.
She had developed acute necrotising...
EU bans gel nail polish ingredient over fertility concerns
The European Union has banned a key ingredient in gel nail polish, with all 27 EU member states now being prohibited from using or...
Could creatine supplements sharpen your brain?
A potential solution for more brain power could come from creatine supplements, which until now has been punted largely for muscle invigoration during short...
When diagnosing a disease can do more harm than good
Switzerland has the highest number of MRI scanners per person in Europe. But more screening doesn’t always lead to better health outcomes, and some...
Most liver cancer preventable, Lancet Commission finds
As many as three in five liver cancer cases could be prevented, according to a report from The Lancet Commission on liver cancer, which...
More than 14m children unvaccinated in 2024
United Nations health officials have said more than 14m children did not receive a single vaccine last year – about the same as the...
NICD urges heightened awareness of rabies
The latest Public Health Bulletin South Africa (PHBSA) surveillance report has called for heightened awareness of rabies, with the country still recording cases among...
Appeal for cost of generic long-acting HIV drug to be lowered
Health activists have urged pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead Sciences to lower the price of its twice-yearly, long-acting injection for HIV prevention, saying the jab –...
Study flags role of dairy in reducing fracture risk in older women
Consuming more dairy in liquid form appears to reduce the risk of osteoporotic and other fractures, while cheese is specifically linked to a reduced...
US study supports lowering colon cancer screening age
Findings from a single-centre study in the United States has supported recommendations to lower the colorectal cancer screening age from 50 to 45, with...
Weight-loss jabs could halve obesity-linked cancer risks – Israeli study
Weight-loss jabs could almost halve the risk of obesity-related cancers, a landmark study has suggested, with experts calling the findings “transformational”, and saying they...
Antibiotic resistance risking SA’s newborns’ lives
Experts say bacterial infections are responsible for more infant deaths than is generally recognised, and that things may get worse as more of the...
UK radiological group calls for male nurses to do mammograms
Male health workers should be allowed to perform breast screening examinations to help relieve staff shortages, says Britain’s Society of Radiographers (SoR), which has...
With twice-yearly PrEP jab, is an HIV vaccine still vital?
The discovery of a highly efficacious option for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that requires only twice-yearly administration has led to the question of whether...
Moderna gets $176m to develop pandemic flu jab
The US has announced it will pay Moderna $176m to accelerate development of a pandemic influenza vaccine that could treat bird flu in people,...
'Game-changing' lenacapavir roll-out hangs in the balance
Aids activists say that if South Africa was able to roll out the twice-yearly anti-HIV jab to enough HIV-negative people, new infections could slow...
Now Trump pulls plug on childhood vaccines
The Trump administration is to halt its funding for Gavi, which helps buy vaccines for children in poor countries, and reduce its efforts to...
Kennedy's conflicting advice leave US doctors frustrated
Doctors and medical experts in the United States are irate about the mixed messaging and controversial advice being dispensed by Health & Human Services...
World’s largest protein study to revolutionise cancer, dementia tests
The world’s largest study of proteins circulating the human body will launch in the UK this month, with tens of millions of pounds in...
Rise in kidney stones among children worries doctors
Medical professionals are noting a concerning escalation in kidney stone cases among children, with some experts implicating a familiar culprit: ultra-processed foods. Other health...
Antibiotic crisis ‘could claim 40m lives’, warns UK expert
As superbugs spread across the globe, death rates from antimicrobial resistance are likely to double over the next 25 years, with senior citizens especially...
Chewing gum linked to drop in preterm births – randomised Malawi study
Results from a study in Malawi showed that chewing gum containing xylitol, a naturally occurring alcohol sugar, was associated with a 24% reduction in...
Colonoscopies detect more colorectal cancer than blood tests, study finds
Although people might prefer to get screened for colorectal cancer with a blood test rather than a colonoscopy, the latter stool-based procedure can prevent...
Early morning, evening activity could cut bowel cancer risk – German study
Being more active in the morning and evening may reduce the risk of bowel cancer by 11%, according to a study that suggests the...
Updated stroke guidelines highlight risks for women
New guidelines for preventing strokes spell out, for the first time, the risks faced by women, noting that pre-term births and conditions like endometriosis...
Gilead in talks with SAHPRA to register twice-yearly anti-HIV jab
Gilead Sciences, which makes the six-monthly anti-HIV injection, has approached the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to discuss how to get the shot registered...
Standing desks don’t cut stroke, cardiac risk – Sydney study
Experts say that standing desks – billed as the ultimate antidote to sitting in front of a screen – don’t compensate for being inactive,...
RSV deaths now preventable in SA, local experts say
South African experts say the implementation of prevention strategies, combined with public engagement and collaboration between stakeholders, could significantly reduce the high rates of...
Efficacy of six-monthly anti-HIV jab confirmed in second study
In June, we heard what could be this year’s biggest HIV breakthrough: a twice-yearly injection can prevent HIV infection. Findings from a second large...
Combination treatment slashes cervical cancer deaths by 40%
British researchers are hailing a new cervical cancer treatment as the biggest improvement in 20 years, cutting the risk of death by 40% and...
Blind women help detect possible breast cancers in India
In an extraordinary programme, blind women in India are assisting in the diagnosis of possible breast cancers, in a country where mammograms are in...
TIME ‘Kid of the Year’ teen invents skin cancer soap
An American teenager is making waves in the oncological research world, having invented a soap which he hopes will, in the future, be used...
Antibiotics vs surgery for appendicitis
Appendicitis is nearly always treated with surgical removal of the appendix, making it the most common cause of emergency surgery in children, but growing...