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Public Health
Paediatric illness outbreak in Eastern Cape
A cluster of paediatric illness cases in Aberdeen, in the Sarah Baartman District of the Eastern Cape, has prompted a warning from the provincial...
Hospital denies negligence after baby allegedly falls from incubator
Tygerberg Hospital says an internal review has found no evidence of negligence after parents claimed one of their newborn twins fell from an incubator...
Australian experts dissect proposed new autism category
A group of international experts has been commissioned by The Lancet to propose a new category of “profound autism”, which would include children older...
Landmark SCA ruling a major setback for Health Department
A key strategy of the Department of Health to tackle its multi-million rand burden of medico-legal claims has been dealt a major blow, with...
Harmful chemicals found in SA sanitary products – UFS study
Menstrual products used by millions of South Africans may contain hormone-disrupting chemicals – even when marketed as “free from harmful chemicals” – suggests research...
Livingstone Hospital evicts 50 nurses
More than 50 nurses have been evicted from what was meant to be temporary accommodation at Livingstone Hospital, forcing many to scramble for places...
First Eastern Cape public IVF clinic opens
Eastern Cape Health has just launched the province’s first public in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinic, which opened at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha last...
KZN MEC stands by claims about private paramedics
KwaZulu-Natal Transport & Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma has said he will not retract his remarks or apologise for insulting private paramedics, reports News24.
Duma's...
US threatens Gavi over vaccines ingredient
The US Government has threatened to withdraw all future funding unless Gavi, the vaccine alliance, removes the ingredient thimerosal from its vaccines. This comes...
Hospitals, clinics, battered by Limpopo floods
Persistent heavy rains and flooding have caused extensive damage to a number of health facilities in Limpopo, leaving some partially inaccessible while others are...
Call for ‘heartless’ MEC’s axing after ‘sleeping on the floor’ comment
In a Marie Antoinette-style “let them eat cake” PR disaster, the head of Gauteng Health has come in for scathing criticism after denying that...
High deaths rates among starving Limpopo children – Wits study
Thousands of South African children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), say concerned experts, calling for urgent review of data quality and reporting...
Why obesity should be treated as a chronic disease in South Africa
One in every three adult South Africans is obese, and yet the condition is not treated as a chronic disease in this country –...
Pushback against growing ‘bogus doctor’ problem
Bogus medical practitioners threaten the health of patients and undermine trust in doctors, but while the problem might be growing in South Africa, so...
SA’s cancer fight needs backing of local science
Cancer is a democratic affliction: it does not only target the wealthy, yet its effect on South Africans is deeply unequal – thus requiring...
What science says we’ve been getting wrong about exercise
Doctors and physiologists point to studies that show tiny, regular bursts of effort – like climbing a few stairs – can capture many of...
Lawsuit threat after KZN MEC slams private paramedics
KwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Siboniso Duma has accused a private ambulance service in Durban of “bulldozing” their way into accident scenes, bullying law enforcement, inflating...
Mpumalanga hires 100 new doctors
The appointment of nearly 100 new doctors last week at clinics and hospitals in Mpumalanga would strengthen primary healthcare and boost service delivery, said...
Hospital CEOs in hot water over Israeli delegation visit
Eastern Cape Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa has launched an investigation into two hospital CEOs who allowed an Israeli diplomatic delegation to tour their facilities...
Eastern Cape patients risk lives in local clinics, report finds
Political parties have slammed the findings of an oversight report exposing appalling conditions at health facilities in the Eastern Cape’s Buffalo City Metro and...
Aids drug supply resumes as Barrs exits business rescue
Barrs Pharmaceuticals, which was unable to supply its share of the government’s Aids drug tender, has exited business rescue and sold a controlling stake...
Deputy President’s son’s link to IDT oxygen plants controversy
Investigations into the now controversial R836m PSA oxygen plants tender have revealed that Thabiso Mashatile, son of Deputy President Paul Mashatile, had personally signed...
Patient's 10-hour wait highlights Rahima Moosa staff crisis
A Johannesburg hospital has apologised to a couple who endured a frustrating 10-hour wait for attention last week, despite their pleas for help and...
Western Cape diphtheria cases on the rise
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has warned that cases of toxigenic respiratory diphtheria are increasing, particularly in the Western Cape, where booster...
Patient forced to travel 350km to treat broken finger
A broken finger that should have been easily treated turned into a major drama for an Eastern Cape patient, who was forced to travel...
Africa CDC and Global Fund establish central data repository
A Central Data Repository (CDR) launched by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) aims to strengthen how public health data...
Paarl Hospital arson-accused was a psychiatric patient at facility
A 35-year-old man who appeared in court last Thursday accused of starting a fire at Paarl Provincial Hospital was a psychiatric patient at the...
Brain-damaged cancer patient sues NHS after eight years of chemo
A British cancer patient is taking legal action against the NHS after being given chemotherapy for eight years instead of six months and being...
Kenya’s NHI loses billions to fraud
Kenya’s Health Cabinet has revealed that the government lost Sh11bn through fraudulent and irregular medical claims under the new Social Health Authority (SHA) system,...
Realignment and integration key to NHI success
Value-based care is the solution to our healthcare woes, but for the National Health Insurance plan to be achieved, evolution, not displacement, is critical,...
Thousands of KZN community health workers finally employed full-time
KwaZulu-Natal Health has permanently employed more than 5 000 community health workers (CHW), marking a triumph for the National Education Health and Allied Workers’...
CMS rules on healthcare products branding in Dis-Chem dispute
Dis-Chem has defended its health insurance partnership with Centriq and Kaelo insurance products, saying a recent regulatory ruling should be seen as a clarification...
SA experts call for warning labels on common, carcinogenic food products
Popular fast and processed foods consumed daily by South Africans are taking their toll on public health, with regulars like bacon, hot dogs and...
Health Department under barrage over jobless doctors
The Department of Health has come under fire from the Junior Doctors Committee of the South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu), which has...
Mpondoland hospital patients battle for healthcare since 2025 floods
A year after floods devastated the already dilapidated Greenville Hospital in eastern Mpondoland, frustrated patients say infrastructure problems continue to restrict services after parts...
Killer terbufos pesticide still being sold by vendors
Despite a ban on illegal sales, the highly toxic pesticide terbufos – commonly known as “halephirimi” (“the sun won’t set”), which has been linked...
Western Cape health system buckles under violent trauma cases
Gang violence-related injuries are crippling Western Cape emergency centres and trauma units, with nearly 27 000 patients being treated at public hospitals in just...
Six countries lose WHO measles-free status
A rise in measles deaths – and a decline in the number of children having the MMR jab – has resulted in Britain, with...
Smuggled birth control pills from Zimbabwe sold in SA
Cross-border trade in illicit medication is thriving, with consignments of Zimbabwean contraceptive pills regularly entering South Africa and being snapped up, not just by...
Young men targeted for unnecessary testosterone tests – Danish study
Despite screening for low testosterone being medically unwarranted in most young men, this category is being aggressively targeted online by “influencers” and wellness companies...