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Public Health
Why SA should still make anti-HIV jab LEN locally
South Africa has shortlisted three local manufacturers to potentially make the six-monthly HIV prevention jab lenacapavir – but making it here will take time....
WHO says no to obesity drugs, surgery, for under-10s
Medicine and surgery are not the answer for overweight children, the World Health Organisation has said, releasing its first guidelines addressing the escalating obesity...
Children dying in pain because of palliative care neglect
A damning report from the World Health Organisation confirms what professionals already know – that South Africa’s health system is failing abysmally at providing...
Western Cape children caught in pesticide drift – SA-Swiss study
A two-year study involving 533 children in three agricultural areas of the Western Cape found that household pesticide use and pesticide spray drift were...
New strategy to target Africa’s declining vaccination rates
Africa has reached an important moment in its immunisation journey, with coverage not rising fast enough to keep pace with population growth; persistent inequities,...
Diabetes crisis calls for urgent new strategy
It’s now a matter of urgency that the alarming and growing number of diabetics in South Africa is tackled by authorities, and new, immediate...
More than R700m, and six years later, ‘state-of-the-art’ path lab still not ready
There is still no completion date for Johannesburg’s new forensic pathology lab, which remains an empty shell while the current facility – the condemned...
Probe after video suggests clinic nurses were inebriated
The Western Cape Department of Health & Wellness is investigating allegations of drinking on duty after two apparently drunk Hanover Park healthcare workers were...
Gauteng Health accelerates hospital upgrades and new builds
Plans for a brand new academic hospital in Gauteng are being advanced, says the Gauteng Department of Health, as are those for a 300-bed...
Tygerberg Hospital upgrade a step closer
The much needed – and long-talked about – redevelopment of Tygerberg Hospital is one of the Western Cape’s “mega-builds for future infrastructure and a...
Gauteng EMS staff in overtime dispute
Claims that Gauteng EMS staff were suspended for refusing to work overtime with extra pay have been denied by the Department of Health, reports...
Diabetes deaths, especially among women, on the rise
The scourge of diabetes shows no sign of waning in South Africa, with the latest Stats SA Mortality Report revealing that the disease accounted for...
UJ hits the road with new mobile eye clinic
The University of Johannesburg (UJ), in partnership with the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT), has launched a R2.5m mobile optometry clinic to take...
Free State woman sues after cancer surgery
What started as toothache led to a rare cancer diagnosis and years of medical treatment for Lerato Mosai (29), who has been bedridden for...
Rising CVD crisis demands urgent public health response, say SA experts
The rising daily toll of South Africans dying from preventable heart disease is alarming, prompting leading researchers to call for routine blood pressure screening,...
Ageing HIV patients add to overloaded health system
A large, steadily growing HIV population in this country is living well into middle age and beyond, thanks to freely available treatment, but the...
Testing more people with TB symptoms is critical – SA study
Many people who report with TB symptoms at South Africa’s public sector clinics do not receive TB tests. But according to a major new...
Patients turned away as national medicines stock levels drop
South Africa is experiencing widespread shortages of essential medicines, including folic acid, epilepsy medication, contraceptives and antibiotics, with some products out of stock for...
Ten-year delay in R2.8bn hospital build drags on with more hiccups
Community unrest and the liquidation of a contractor have been blamed for further delays to the decade-long construction of the (new) Mapulaneng Regional Hospital...
Cape clinic staff fed up with safety issues
Traumatised staff at the Kalbaskraal Satellite Clinic, outside Malmesbury in the Western Cape, were safely evacuated last week after a group of men barged...
Leaked report shows hundreds of NHS orthopaedic paediatric patients harmed
Hundreds of orthopaedic patients – mostly children – suffered “harm” at an NHS hospital in England, which is currently reviewing cases dealt with by...
GLP-1 drugs may be linked to rare brain condition – Israeli review
A rare, serious brain condition may be linked to a small number of people taking GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes drugs, reports The Independent.
Around...
Stats SA defends data after scepticism over unvaccinated babies
Stats SA has defended its population data, which the National Department of Health said last week may have skewed its estimates of childhood vaccination...
Pro-bono surgery marathon to slash Frere Hospital backlog
Life Beacon Bay Hospital, one of the biggest private healthcare facilities in KuGompo (East London), is collaborating with Frere Hospital – which provides the...
Small pill could cut maternal deaths linked to anaemia
A tiny multi-nutrient pill could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of women who die from complications linked to pregnancy and childbirth every...
Traditional healers call for improved referral pathways, co-operation
Traditional healers, who say patients they refer to public clinics can fall through the cracks because the two health systems don’t communicate effectively, are...
Exploited, exhausted 'ghost doctors' trapped in 'new apartheid'
For years, hospitals have relied on the unpaid, unprotected labour of trainee-specialists to fill their rosters, but these doctors are reaching a breaking point,...
New HoD job for official linked to Tembisa corruption
A provincial government official linked to the massive fraud scandal at Tembisa Hospital has been appointed head of department for Johannesburg’s Public Safety portfolio,...
Dodgy childhood vaccination data prompts department review
Recently published childhood vaccination figures by the National Department of Health – showing an alarming drop – may have been skewed by inaccurate population numbers...
Study links Sasol pollution to 1 000 deaths annually
A Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air report has revealed that pollution from Sasol’s Secunda plant can be linked to around 1...
Almost half of world’s farmers poisoned by pesticides every year, study finds
Almost half of the world’s farmers are poisoned by pesticides every single year, according to a study published last week in Frontiers in Public Health, reports...
State doctors and nurses rise up against crumbling institutions
Doctors and nurses are standing up against the continuing deterioration of South Africa’s public healthcare system, warning that crumbling infrastructure, critical staff shortages and...
Crucial medicine shortages being managed, says KZN Health
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health says that despite global supply-chain pressures having a huge impact on local essential medication stock, and resulting in shortages,...
New Johannesburg ambulances unused, parked for six years
Despite the chronic shortage of emergency services vehicles countrywide, 41 ambulances bought by the City of Johannesburg – for a total of R16m –...
Gauteng Health warns against bribes, hospital queue-jumping
A warning has been issued to both staff and the public by the Gauteng Department of Health that anyone asking for money to help...
Ageing HIV population calls for new healthcare approach
An estimated 1.5m (29%) people with HIV were 50 and older – and the numbers are growing, according to The Lancet HIV Commission on...
How Kenya bulldozed through walls around UFC
The plan for the reformation of Kenya’s universal healthcare coverage that was implemented in 2023 – passed and approved within a record six weeks...
SA a step closer to new TB vaccine, but community buy-in is crucial
In March 2024, a pivotal clinical trial was launched to evaluate what might well become the first new tuberculosis vaccine on the market in...
PIMART pharmacists get go-ahead to apply for ARV dispensing permits
Ten months after an enabling court judgment, some specially trained South African pharmacists can finally start applying for permits allowing them to dispense ARVs...
Probe after Helen Joseph patient complaint
Johannesburg’s Helen Joseph Hospital has initiated an investigation after a video posted on social media by a patient claimed the hospital is chaotic and...