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Enterprising Pretoria scientists turn citrus waste into health supplement
A team of young researchers at the University of Pretoria is developing an innovative health supplement that transforms citrus peel waste into a potentially powerful...
Gut health, metabolism, disrupted by sweeteners – US review
A recent study has suggested a link between calorie-free sweeteners and blood sugar control, with researchers saying their findings confirm others that warn about...
Public health threat as South Africa battles illegal weight loss drugs
Costly new generation weight loss drugs are unaffordable for most people, which has opened up a black market for cheaper, unregistered and untested versions...
More than 50 hospitals still headed by acting CEOs
The absence of permanent CEOs at state hospitals across South Africa is alarming, with Gauteng alone having 13 out of 37 facilities headed by...
Tobacco Bill lurches forward – with amendments possible
South Africa’s much stalled and controversial Bill that plans to enforce stringent regulations on tobacco use and the vaping industry is showing signs of...
Boys die after flu-like symptoms
A four-year-old boy from Verulam, outside Durban, died last week hours after being treated for a cough, said his mother, who is waiting for...
Egyptian doctor arrested after exposing obstetric violence
Egyptian human rights groups have condemned the arrest of a former doctor – later released on bail – after she had posted testimony on...
Lung issues for teens for up to two years after TB treatment – Peru study
A recent study in Peru, led by researchers from Brown University in the United States, has concluded that adolescent pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) survivors have...
NPO testing finds pesticide residues in South Africans’ everyday foods
Testing commissioned by the advocacy NPO African Centre for Biodiversity has found pesticide residues in a range of products, including maize meal, bread, fruit...
SA doctors rally against xenophobia and urge healthcare for all
As protests against undocumented foreigners spread across SA on Tuesday, and thousands of foreigners were forced to flee the country, a group of more...
Vaccine hesitancy – lessons from South Africa and Brazil
Vaccine uptake has been declining in Brazil and South Africa over the past decade, reversing important gains in protecting children against vaccine-preventable diseases like...
UCT study finds major risks to unborn babies from indoor pollution, tobacco smoke
A recent study has suggested that pregnant women exposed to poor quality indoor air – including tobacco smoke – can place unborn babies at...
Crucial advance in MDR-TB treatment from South African team – NEJM
South African and American researchers have published the results of a practice-changing clinical trial in The New England Journal of Medicine, showing the effectiveness...
'A matter of time' before Ebola arrives in SA, says expert
One of South Africa’s top infectious disease experts has warned that it’s simply “a matter of time” before an Ebola case is imported to...
Special mental health unit built for Western Cape’s teenage girls
The Western Cape has spent millions designing and building a specialised inpatient ward for teenage girls battling severe mental health issues, reports IOL.
Lentegeur Hospital’s...
Global drop in deaths from infections causing diarrhoea – Lancet study
Deaths from infections that cause diarrhoea and other intestinal illnesses have fallen sharply since 1990, thanks in part to the rotavirus vaccine, among other...
Faulty spine implant recall may mean major surgery for thousands
The global recall of a spinal implant – with recommendations from the manufacturers for patients to undergo urgent X-rays – may lead to thousands...
JAMA publishes Covid jab study blocked by CDC journal
A study on Covid vaccines that was blocked from publication in the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s flagship journal by the acting director...
SAMA warning as number of bogus doctors rises
Fake and unregistered doctors in South Africa are becoming harder to identify, according to the South African Medical Association (SAMA), which told The Citizen...
Call for action as diabetes now leading cause of natural deaths
Tens of thousands of South Africans are dying annually from diabetes-related illnesses, the Diabetes Alliance has revealed after its review of mortality data released...
Pregnancy fears after birth control pill shortages
A contraception shortage in some North West and Gauteng clinics for the past three or four months is increasing women’s concerns about unplanned pregnancies,...
Bran flakes may be classified as ‘junk food’ in UK reforms
The British Government is considering updating rules on what it views as unhealthy food – which could mean popular cereals like bran flakes, frequently...
Ghana asks anti-vaxxer, anti-WHO activist, to address ‘Family Values’ congress
Ghana’s Parliament recently invited an anti-vaccine Kenyan and a conservative Dutch activist campaigning to curtail the WHO to address visiting MPs on “health sovereignty”,...
Why food alone won’t fix childhood stunting – SA study
South Africa has a paradox when it comes to food availability. Its supermarkets are overflowing, and yet it continues to record high levels of...
Tougher action needed for NHSL debt
The astronomical debts owed by provinces to the National Health Service Laboratory Service are endangering patients and threatening the very existence of the NHSL,...
More Tembisa fraud revelations likely after audit records enforcement
In a move that has put the Department of Health in a corner, and which could potentially lead to more damning revelations relating to...
High risk baby’s access to clinic allegedly blocked by vigilantes
The March and March vigilante group has denied any knowledge of a mother and her critically ill four-month-old baby being barred by its members...
World experts call for urgent response, saying Ebola was preventable
Global health leaders, including a number of leading South African health professionals, have signed an open letter to governments in which they urge “an...
Limpopo doctor sells sandwiches to fund patients’ surgeries
A doctor in Burgersfort, Limpopo, is transforming needy patients’ lives by funding their surgeries through the sales of a popular township sandwich, called a...
Health Minister says bid plans to ‘enhance infrastructure' on track
The National Department of Health, which is to submit 11 funding bids to the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BIF) for projects linked to various...
Why pharmacists still can’t prescribe ARVs after SCA ruling
A Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in October 2025 cleared the way for specially trained and permitted pharmacists to dispense antiretroviral medicines without a...
Big Tobacco uses cigarette sales ploys to push ultra-processed food
Revelations in the latest American Journal of Public Health unravel the strategies used by big tobacco companies – which have acquired food product lines...
Experts flag high depression rates among SA community service doctors
A recent study by Tejil Mora and Gemma Purbrick, published in this month’s SA Medical Journal, uncovers an alarmingly high prevalence of depression among...
SIU net closes in on ‘Syndicate X’ in Tembisa Hospital probe
The Tembisa Hospital probe has netted more fish, with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) obtaining a preservation order and an interim interdict against a...
No evidence migrants causing hospital overcrowding – SAHRC
The SA Human Rights Commission said there is no evidence or data showing that foreign nationals are causing overcrowding at local hospitals, telling a...
‘Filthy’ Eastern Cape hospital slammed by patient
Complaints alleging unhygienic and filthy conditions at a hospital in Gqeberha have been deflected by the Eastern Cape Department of Health, which said the...
MEC cracks the whip as suppliers vent frustration over long delayed payments
Health officials and healthcare workers came in for sharp rebuke this week for shoddy work; in Gauteng officials were threatened with dismissal if they...
Gauteng Health labelled a 'mafia' after hospital repair scandal exposed
In response to scathing findings by the Public Protector, a committee has been established that will ensure long-delayed repairs at the fire-damaged Charlotte Maxeke...
Limpopo orthopaedic surgeon shortage leaves patients waiting for years
A Limpopo man whose leg was broken in a car crash in February is still waiting for orthopaedic surgery – just one among more...
Concern that White Paper could block migrants from healthcare
South Africa’s revised Immigration White Paper could make it even harder for undocumented migrants to access healthcare and other basic services in this country,...