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Public Health
EPA warns of common chemical’s link to cancer
A recent investigation has found that formaldehyde causes more cancer than any other toxic air pollutant, exposing everyone to elevated risks of developing cancer no...
South Africa shoulders high health burden of sugary drinks
A global analysis has placed South Africa among the countries worst hit by the health burden of high consumption of sugary drinks which, together...
More than 900m people globally have incurable STI – Qatar analysis
Research led by a team in Doha has confirmed genital herpes is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world that does...
Unspent R250m cancer treatment funds returned to Treasury
Gauteng Health has attempted to justify its failure to spend R250m that was allocated for cancer treatment saying the situation is “not as urgent”...
Medical students tackle rural healthcare gaps in Western Cape
Ukwanda, the isiXhosa word for ‘grow’, encapsulates the mission of Stellenbosch University’s Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health: nurturing healthcare in rural communities. At the...
Sharp climb in children's death from malnutrition
In the past two years alone, more than 1 000 children under five have died from hunger, with deaths in this age group generally...
Leadership issues at Gauteng Health raise concern
Criticism of leadership and governance at Gauteng Health is increasing as the department repeatedly makes headlines for questionable appointments. This unfolds alongside a damning...
Surgery backlogs balloon as billions slashed from budget
Surgical backlogs continue to rise countrywide, as reduced budgets and staffing shortages eat away at public healthcare capacity, and institutions and medical professionals feel...
Gauteng Health denies blowing oncology millions
Activist organisations this week challenged the Gauteng Department of Health in court over the R784m budget intended to tackle an oncology backlog, accusing it...
Climate change will worsen health burden, warns SA expert at COP29
Climate change is accelerating the spread of disease, according to SA scientist Professor Tulio de Oliveira, who warns that pathogens are spreading across borders...
Time to end compulsory community service for doctors?
Community service placements for young doctors have been beset by poor planning, uncertainty and financial insecurity, leading to a group of experts questioning whether...
African activists fear Trump will cut birth control funds
There is growing anxiety across Africa – and other countries – that US President elect Donald Trump might end the donor funding for services...
Alarming finds from AMR study of hospital surfaces in six countries
Antimicrobial resistance – when bacteria and other microbes that can cause infections gain the ability to resist treatment by antibiotics or other antimicrobial medicines...
Randburg Clinic crisis of one doctor for 400 patients
Johannesburg’s Randburg Clinic is sagging beneath the weight of limited resources and growing patient numbers, resulting in long waits in overcrowded conditions and regular...
Action plan launched to combat food poisonings in SA
Children from a primary school in Limpopo were checked for suspected food poisoning last Thursday after 75 of them complained of stomach ache –...
Global Fund to probe fishy oxygen tender
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said last week that the Geneva-based Global Fund is sending its own investigators to SA to probe allegations that...
Critical healthcare deal in Gauteng teeters on the brink
An extended impasse over a vital agreement for training and improved hospital management between the Gauteng Department of Health and Wits University remains derailed,...
Critical linen shortage at Bara after laundry failure
Gauteng’s Health Department has had to step in after linen supplies at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital ground to a halt when the washing...
SA facing diabetes ‘pandemic’ as cases soar among young people
A critical shortage of specialists to treat diabetics is contributing to the treatment challenges for patients in South Africa where the disease is now...
US analysis links 22 pesticides to prostate cancers
Researchers have found that nearly two dozen pesticides are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in the United States, four of them also being...
Suppliers owed R743m by Gauteng Health
The Gauteng Health Department has owed 69 suppliers R743m for more than a year, with some companies now refusing to do any more business...
Broken X-ray machine and no water for five years at Limpopo hospital
Limpopo’s historic Elim Hospital, which is more than a century old, does not have a functioning X-ray machine, and has not had a reliable...
Registration practice rules for sangomas from 2025
When they need healthcare, writes Sipokazi Fokazi for Bhekisisa, about 70% of South Africans, mostly in rural areas, visit sangomas first before they go to...
Nineteen-day wait for emergency op in KwaZulu-Natal hospital
The plight of a Northern KwaZulu-Natal man who fell through a roof and broke his femur echoes the stories of thousands of patients who...
Health Department eyes PIC trillions for hospital infrastructure
The Health Department and national Treasury are in talks to dig into South Africa’s R2.7trn savings pool held by the Public Investment Corporation for the...
MPs call for Health Department to recoup foreigner nationals' medical expenses
Parliament’s Health Committee wants the Department of Health to consider recouping money spent on treating foreign nationals at state facilities, saying, after reviewing the...
UK private healthcare thriving while NHS flounders
British patients are increasingly flocking to private providers for their healthcare as the National Health Service (NHS) buckles under lengthy waiting lists, which have...
Amazon, social media flooded with unsound cancer info – UK study
The internet is awash with cancer misinformation, according to researchers, with misleading information receiving more engagement than factual sources, and with Amazon, the world’s...
Health experts urge banning of toxic pesticides after children's deaths
Evidence linking pesticide exposure to serious health impacts has been steadily mounting, with health experts repeatedly sounding the alarm and now, after six more...
Freeze on equipment outlays as Gauteng budget falters
Gauteng Health has halted the procurement of all new equipment with immediate effect, further crippling state hospitals already constrained by various shortages, including staff.
A...
Tygerberg faces C-section backlog crisis
The backlog of pregnant women awaiting elective Caesareans at Tygerberg Hospital’s maternity ward has increased, according to staff, who say that while the waiting...
Fake medicines trade flourishing in KZN
Organised crime networks are continuing to do a roaring trade in counterfeit pharmaceutical products smuggled into South Africa and into the hands of desperate...
Emergency personnel may be linked to ambulances sabotage
Mpumalanga authorities are investigating claims that some Health Department staff deliberately damaged ambulances in acts of sabotage, rendering them unusable.
The province is already desperately...
NHS dumps hip implant after fractures increase
A metal hip implant used in thousands of NHS patients will be axed because of an increase in bone fractures, according to the Medicines...
Bigger role ahead for family physicians in SA, at last
Two decades ago, family physicians were anticipated to become critical cogs in South Africa’s public healthcare system, but they have been hugely under-utilised. Now,...
Gilead in talks with SAHPRA to register twice-yearly anti-HIV jab
Gilead Sciences, which makes the six-monthly anti-HIV injection, has approached the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to discuss how to get the shot registered...
Kenya's path to universal health coverage
Kenya’s pursuit of universal health coverage has evolved over three decades through incremental reforms. But by far the boldest step taken so far was...
Gauteng Health expands HPV jabs to private schools
Vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) will now be available to girls aged nine to 15 at private schools in the province, Gauteng Health...
Efficacy of six-monthly anti-HIV jab confirmed in second study
In June, we heard what could be this year’s biggest HIV breakthrough: a twice-yearly injection can prevent HIV infection. Findings from a second large...
Patients wait 24 hours to see doctor at struggling Eastern Cape hospital
Gqeberha’s Livingstone Hospital, one of the biggest in the Eastern Cape, is buckling under the strain of chronic staff shortages – from doctors and...