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Public Health
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...
Hidden mpox exposure found in healthy Nigerians – Cambridge study
The mpox virus appears to be circulating silently in parts of Nigeria, in many cases without the symptoms typically associated with the disease, according...
Suppliers’ business rescue threatens critical medicines supply
The supply of critical medicines, including the three-in-one anti-Aids drug taken by most HIV patients, and morphine, is under threat after suppliers were placed...
GEMS subsidy hike postponed to next month
The planned medical subsidy increase for government employees has been postponed to next month and comes as the Health Minister has promised to intervene...
Upgraded Free State clinic still short-staffed
Two months after being opened with much fanfare by the Free State Premier, the Borwa Clinic in Tweespruit has yet to hire additional staff, with the...
SA scientist develops tool for fast screening of TB, cancer and Covid
A Cape Town scientist is working on developing a rapid, low-cost portable screening test that could transform the early detection of TB, cancer and...
WHO calls for higher taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol
Low taxes, which are not in line with inflation, are ineffective in reducing alcohol or sugary drink consumption, the World Health Organisation has warned, urging...
World short of one million midwives, warns global report
Africa has only 40% of the midwives it needs, while globally, there’s a massive shortage of nearly 1m midwives, leaving pregnant women without the...
US to probe health links from cellphone radiation
A study on cellphone radiation will be undertaken by the US Department of Health and Human Services, building on Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s...
Smokeless tobacco a growing oral cancer burden
Clinical interventions are vital to slash the burden of disease associated with smokeless tobacco, and providing cessation treatment in clinical settings is critical, say...
State obliged to remove barriers to health services
For months, militant vigilantes have unlawfully prevented people they deemed to be foreign nationals from public healthcare services. SECTION27 health activists Benni Mudau, Khuselwa Dyantyi,...
Experts call for SA lens on contraceptive link to meningioma
Increasing evidence has shown an association between the popular contraceptive injection depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (dMPA) – known as depo provera – and meningioma, leading...
Major Lancet review debunks paracetamol, autism claims
Taking paracetamol while pregnant is safe and there is no evidence it increases the risk of autism, ADHD and developmental issues in children, say...
SAHPRA alert on paediatric supplements
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has issued a health warning to parents about children’s supplements containing zinc picolinate and seleniumn –...