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Task team probes staff crisis at Livingstone Hospital
A task team from the Eastern Cape Department of Health is to present a report shortly on the staffing haemorrhage from Gqeberha’s Livingstone Hospital and...
WHO punts 50% global tax hike for alcohol, tobacco and sugary drinks
The World Health Organisation wants health taxes hiked worldwide to slow down the epidemic of non-communicable diseases, pointing to a recent report suggesting that...
Low screening, weak referrals, drive SA’s high cervical cancer rates
Compared with other countries, South Africa has a much higher global cervical cancer rate – between 22.8 and 27 per 100 000 women, with...
Mpox can leave lasting brain damage – Swiss study
Research by University of Bern scientists suggests that the mpox virus can also infect the human brain and damage brain cells, findings they say...
Jobless Cuban-trained doctors desperate for posts
Two dozen young doctors are sitting at home unemployed after completing their training – funded by the Free State government through the Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro...
Gauteng Health denies ‘bodies piling up’ at hospital morgue
There are no unclaimed bodies piling up at Helen Joseph Hospital, Gauteng Health has said after claims of multiple unclaimed bodies left in limbo...
Contaminated water detected in most SA school storage tanks
A national water testing campaign has found that most water storage tanks at South African schools are contaminated, and unfit for human consumption, while...
Gavi scrambles to replace billions lost with withdrawal of US support
The Gates Foundation has renewed its commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, after US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. accused it last week...
Cancer ‘the new HIV in South Africa’
Cancer cases in South Africa are rising, with projections that numbers could reach 120 000 within the next five years – double what was...
Health experts urge government to prioritise antimicrobial resistance
An open letter from more than 70 infectious disease and public health experts is urging the Department of Health and Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi...
No money for fire compliance at Charlotte Maxeke – Gauteng Health
Repairs to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital after the devastating fire in April 2021 are progressing well – albeit slowly – but the Gauteng Department of...
Gauteng Health on vaccine drive as measles spreads
Measles cases are escalating in Gauteng, with the Health Department now launching an aggressive vaccination campaign in schools and at taxi ranks, in efforts...
New research unit at Steve Biko Hospital impresses President
The newly-established Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) facility at Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria has impressed President Cyril Ramaphosa, who visited the facility this...
Regulator wrongly approved hundreds of nurses to work in UK
A damning report reveals that more than 350 fraudulent or under-qualified applications from centres in India, Nigeria and Pakistan were mistakenly approved by Britain’s...
Free State clinics shut down for safety reasons
Two clinics which closed down in the Free State in April were inspected by Health MEC Monyatso Mahlatsi this week where she assessed the...
Why 100% fruit juice needs a sugar warning label
Under South Africa’s latest proposed food labelling regulations, 100% fruit juices won’t have to show a high sugar warning because their sugars are “naturally...
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 –...
Frustrated doctors slam union for lack of action
A collective of 126 frontline South African doctors – from more than 40 public and private healthcare institutions countrywide – has lambasted the SA...
Costly ‘sick leave’ endemic among government staff
Sick leave costs in the public service skyrocketed between 2020 and 2023 – from R8bn in 2020 to R11.5bn in 2022 before dipping slightly...
KZN patient registration system struggles to get going
Implementation of the Health Patient Registration System (HPRS) in KwaZulu-Natal is being hamstrung by a budget shortfall and issues relating to internet connectivity, according...
Gauteng hospital patients without hot water
Patients at nine hospitals in Gauteng have been without hot water for six weeks, thanks to leaking and broken boilers, compressors and tanks, according...
Thousands of Gauteng patients wait for MRI scans
A backlog of 3 563 patients awaiting MRI scans at Gauteng Hospitals is cause for concern, says the DA, with shadow health Minister Jack...
Government applauded for HIV combat efforts amid US cuts
South Africa’s efforts to maintain its fight against HIV-Aids, despite the massive funding cuts from the United States, have been acknowledged by United Nations...
WHO extends mpox emergency after African surge
After a World Health Organisation (WHO) emergency committee meeting last week on the mpox upsurge in Africa, the group’s director-general has accepted the recommendation...
Global recognition for SA public health expert Helen Rees
South Africa’s Professor Helen Rees was one of six global public health champions celebrated at the recent World Health Assembly, receiving the Dr Lee Jong-wook...
Rethinking how we look at obesity in South Africa
Health workers have long relied on body mass index (BMI) to measure whether people are within a healthy weight range, but leading researchers have...
Cape Town sees rise in foodborne illnesses
An escalation in foodborne illnesses – since July 2022 – has seen Cape Town’s microbiological lab testing nearly 5 000 food samples, just over...
Electronic death registration in SA a win for everyone
South Africa’s paper-based death registration process is cumbersome and fraught with problems, and moving to an electronic system will not only reduce the administrative...
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...
The stealth and tragedy of hepatitis B in South Africa
When Desmond Pedro (30) discovered a strange hardness under his ribcage, the unemployed father of two was preparing for a fresh start on a...
The case for a state-owned pharmaceutical company
To haul itself out of its dependency on other nations for its pharmaceutical needs, the country needs to switch its focus from costly imported...
Public Protector lays bare structural problems at Eastern Cape Health
The Eastern Cape Department of Health has been slammed by the Public Protector in a damning report for failing to provide adequate equipment and...
Staff shortages leave North West hospital ‘broken’
Patients are being left untreated for weeks and surgeries postponed amid a ballooning crisis at Bophelong Provincial Hospital in the North West, where severe...
Tobacco industry deliberately targets teens, says Phaala
Vapes have come under renewed criticism from pubic health advocates, with Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla accusing the tobacco industry of deliberately targeting non-smokers...
SA may have long wait for promising new gonorrhoea drugs
Two new antibiotics offer hope for people with gonorrhoea that is resistant to currently available drugs, yet it might be years before these drugs...
US cuts affect vital cervical cancer screening, research in SA
More than 1 400 cervical cancer patients in Gauteng will be transferred to already overstretched public hospitals after the abrupt closure of several cervical...
Millions set aside to fix dysfunctional hospital laundries
The Gauteng Department of Health has admitted to a “frequent breakdown of laundry machinery” but says R50m has been allocated to deal with the...
Durban sounds alarm over 7 000 teen pregnancies in a year
Health officials have expressed concern over the rising number of teenage pregnancies in eThekwini, revealing that 7 627 cases were recorded between April 2024...
Inquiry after baby lands on floor during birth
A Limpopo mother from whose pleas for help were dismissed when she went into labour, and whose baby was born and fell to the...
Well-being and health of world’s teens in peril – Lancet global experts
A Lancet report into adolescent health has identified unique threats to young people around the world, highlighting poor mental health, rising obesity, and exposure...