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Less aggression among the young when corporal punishment banned
An international study shows that in countries where there is a complete ban on all corporal punishment of children there is less fighting among...
Summit: A fixit plan by December and a pledge on private healthcare
President Cyril Ramaphosa that there would be a plan by December to tackle SA's public health crisis, speaking at a two-day health summit to...
How healthy will people in South Africa be in 2040?
An international projection of life expectancy and major mortality risk paints two scenarios for South Africa by the year 2040: An increase in life expectancy...
Mboweni must urgently 'puncture the fantasy NHI balloon'
One of the tasks confronting the new finance minister, Tito Mboweni, will be to puncture the balloon of fantasy surrounding the national health insurance...
Vaccination and screening set to eliminate cervical cancer in Australia
Australia will become the first country to effectively eliminate cervical cancer if vaccination and screening rates are maintained, BBC News reports researchers say. The...
Daily drinking associated with increased mortality risk
The minimum risk of low-level drinking frequency for all-cause mortality appears to be approximately three occasions weekly, according to a US analysis of two...
Did Big Tobacco buy Twitter? Tobacco Institute responds
A Bhekisisa article claiming that the tobacco industry was buying ads and Twitter coverage to thwart tobacco control in South Africa, elicited an irritated response...
Expert opinion divided over health impacts as SA legalises dagga
Following the legalisation of cannabis for personal use in South Africa, the SA Society of Psychiatrists and the SA Medical Association warned of its...
Affordable vaping in developing countries is a ‘human rights issue'
Experts in Britain and Kenyan harm reduction advocate Joseph Magero have called for the cost of e-cigarettes to be cut to tackle harmful effects...
Assuming e-cigarettes are equal to cigarettes could distort research – and policy
'Cigarette' might appear in the term 'e-cigarette' but that is as far as their similarities extend, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. Assuming e-cigarettes...
WHO launches new strategy to accelerate global tobacco control
The Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control closed its eighth session – COP8 – on 7 October after adopting...
‘White paper’ call to action on vapour products, harm reduction and taxation
The International Center for Law & Economics in the US has produced a white paper it describes as a call to action for economists and health...
New e-cigarette product puts anti-smoking campaigns in jeopardy
Adolescent use of electronic cigarettes initially took the US public health community by surprise, reports the New England Journal of Medicine. In 2011, less than 2%...
e-Cigarette explosions and burn injuries underestimated in US
The number of e-cigarette explosion and burn injuries have been underestimated by Federal Agencies in the US, according to a George Mason University study. These...
Shisha (hookah) addiction may be stronger than cigarette addiction
Smoking shishais very popular, particularly among young people. But despite what many people believe, it is highly addictive, writes Kamran Siddiqi, professor of global public health...
Most US colleges are not tobacco- and smoke-free, research reveals
Most US four-year colleges and universities as well as community colleges don’t have tobacco-free or smoke-free policies on campus, according to a study in the...
It's not just about the number of hospital beds…
SA Health Minister Dr Aaron Mostoaledi has cited overcrowding as a root cause of recent Klebsiella-related infant deaths. However, while the number of beds...
IRR report: Deficiencies in state health sector doom NHI to failure
An Institute of Race Relations report says that the proposed National Health Insurance is a 'noble goal' but will destroy private healthcare and medical...
Debunking claims about medical dagga use
Current international evidence does not support the hypothesis that SA legalising the use of dagga will cause more teens to use it, and will reduce...
Almost 40% of South Africans dangerously inactive — WHO study
A quarter of the world’s adults are doing too little exercise, putting them at risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and some...
Almost two decades later, 9/11 is still claiming victims
Tens of thousands of people who lived or worked in the neighbourhood of New York's World Trade Centre after the 9/11 terror attack found themselves...
Wider benefits of alcohol outweigh health benefits of teetotalism — a rebuttal
‘No safe level of alcohol’ screamed headlines last week. They were inspired by the publication of a massive study, part of the ‘Global Burden...
A properly implemented NHI could help bring together a divided society
Whatever the current failures of the proposed National Health Insurance scheme, it has the potential "to move the country towards socio-economic equality by prioritising a...
Cigarette market is soaring in Africa – UCT study
Tobacco companies are thriving in Africa due to weak anti-tobacco and tax laws. A study by the University of Cape Town’s Economics of Tobacco Control Project found...
Supporters of South Africa’s Tobacco Bill speak out
Following a cacophony of criticism of South Africa’s Tobacco Bill, supporters the legislation are having their say. An article in Daily Maverick outlines a...
Urgent strategies needed to tackle US opioid crisis – Doctors have a role
There are many ways to tackle America’s growing opioid addiction crisis. In articles in USA Today, a behavioural economist and a chief medical examiner...
Social media bots and Russian trolls promoting discord over vaccines
Social media bots and Russian trolls spread false information about vaccines on Twitter, seemingly using vaccination as a wedge issue, to promote discord, according...
How SA's 'collusive' private healthcare sector can be fixed
South Africa's private healthcare sector, dominated by a few players, allows non-competitive behaviour such as collusion and excessive pricing tends to thrive, writes Professor...
Plastic surgery on YouTube is mostly 'misleading marketing'
In the first study to evaluate YouTube videos on facial plastic surgery procedures, which draw millions of viewers, Rutgers University researchers found that most...
No safe level of alcohol consumption — 195-nation study
Giving up drinking completely is the only way to avoid the health risks associated with alcohol, according to a major study covering 195 countries over...
Almost a fifth of medicines in Africa sub-standard or falsified
A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that sub-standard and falsified medicines, including medicines to treat malaria, are a...
Proposed Bills are not the cure for the current health sector crisis
Will the proposed provisions and processes in the National Health Insurance Bill and the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill strengthen the public health system? Professor Lucy Gilson of...
SA 'needs divestiture' to free up the private healthcare market
The preliminary findings of the inquiry into South Africa’s private health care sector shows worrying trends, writes Phumudzo S Munyai, associate professor at the...
Tobacco industry finds unlikely allies in fight against regulation
In recent weeks, health experts and journalists have spoken out against the government’s proposed Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill. It's...
An 'important contribution' to understanding global health interventions in Africa
Amy Patterson's Africa and Global Health Governance: Domestic Politics and International Structures is important because it is one of few books to show that African...
TP-PA shows excellent sensitivity for adjudicating syphilis
Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TP-PA) is a better test to adjudicate syphilis results given its high specificity and superior sensitivity, according to a...
EU seeks to restrict chemicals in tattoo inks over cancer fears
The EU’s chemicals watchdog has concluded that substances found in tattooing inks may pose a cancer risk, although there is no direct evidence, and...
Fiery responses to SA’s draconian Tobacco Bill
SA’s Tobacco Bill has met with a barrage of criticism, among other things for proposing jail for smoking in public, outlawing designated smoking areas,...
‘This should change everything’ – A performance standard for cigarettes
Unlike many other consumer products, no safety standards have been set for cigarettes or other tobacco products. Now a performance standard proposal has been...
Africa Check puts together the numbers on doctor-patient ratios
The fact-checking organisation Africa Check looks at doctor-patient ratios in both public and private healthcare, following criticism by the Treatment Action Campaign that the...