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Gilead inks deal for generic HIV drug supply to low-income nations
Gilead Sciences has granted royalty-free licences to six generic drug manufacturers to make and sell cheaper copycat versions of its HIV prevention medicine in...
African drug makers urged to adopt a regional approach
US global Aids co-ordinator John Nkengasong has called on African pharmaceutical companies to investigate the possibility of a regional manufacturing approach, to take advantage of...
Call for access to new antibiotics in SA as AMR rises
There is a desperate need for improved access to new antibiotics to treat infections caused by drug-resistant organisms, to be able to limit side...
Eastern Cape teen dies while waiting for ambulance
A teenage girl died after waiting six hours for an ambulance, with her desperate parents being unable to call for help because the Eastern...
Marburg virus kills eight in Rwanda
Eight people have died from an outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda, most of the victims being healthcare workers, the country’s Health Minister has...
Western Cape youngsters drive province's HIV spike
Findings of an extensive survey released by the Human Sciences Research Council last week include that sexual debut before the age of 15 –...
How SA’s childhood vaccination system can become great
The two public health interventions that have had the greatest impact on the world’s health are clean water and vaccines, write Professors Susan Goldstein...
Serious adverse events top 7 000 in hospitals as vacancy rates rise
Public hospitals in Gauteng notched up 7 117 cases of unintended harm inflicted on patients – serious adverse events (SAEs) – last year and...
Gauteng lacks safety compliance, Health Committee hears
Already humiliated by recent scathing headlines about their services, Gauteng hospitals are also failing to comply with occupational health and safety regulations, while others...
How to tackle South Africa's high suicide rate
Not only does South Africa have the third highest suicide rate in Africa, but Africa itself has higher rates of suicide than any other...
Mpox drug SAE only in compromised patients – CDC study
An analysis by the US Centres for Disease Control & Infection on the use of Tpoxx – the antiviral drug tecovirimat prescribed to more...
Survey shows HIV rates soaring in Mpumalanga
Nearly 900 000 people in Mpumalanga (or 17.4% of the population) are HIV positive, giving it the dubious title of province with the highest infection in the country, according...
Bird flu case raises first suggestion of human transmission
In what could possibly be the first known case in the United States, the H5N1 “bird flu” virus may have now been spread from...
Superbugs ‘could kill 39m people by 2050’ – worldwide analysis
In a chilling prediction, a new global analysis estimates that “superbugs” will kill more than 39m people before 2050, with older people particularly at...
Patient's viral video highlights state of public healthcare
A viral video by a patient at Helen Joseph Hospital exposing uncaring doctors and dilapidated conditions has again sparked national discussion about the attitude...
Critical vacancy rates for doctors, nurses and managers
Vacancy rates for doctors range from 22.4% in the Free State to 5.5% in the Western Cape, and for nurses, from 28% in the...
HASA urges mandatory medical aid enrolment to reduce public load
The Hospital Association of SA (Hasa) has predicted a massive 50% rise in spending on people reliant on public healthcare, and called for the...
Half of the world’s micronutrient intake inadequate – global study
According to recent alarming findings by researchers, more than half of the global population consumes inadequate levels of several micronutrients essential to health, including...
SA’s under-fives hungry, neglected and dying – Child Gauge 2024
One out of every 25 babies born in South Africa dies before turning five, with most under-fives facing hunger, neglect and developmental issues, according...
Three major hospital projects in pipeline for Cape Town
The Western Cape Department of Health says it is going full steam ahead with its plans for new facilities and three major projects that...
Measles closes Northern Cape schools
Four schools were closed in the Northern Cape on Thursday last week after an outbreak of measles, with cases having rapidly escalated from 16...
New Wits burns unit opens at Bara
Wits University has opened its new Roy McAlpine Burns Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital – which has the only public burns...
Eastern Cape women's lives at risk in maternity wards, commission finds
The conditions in Eastern Cape maternity wards are so dire that they are contributing to patients’ and infants’ deaths, says a report from the...
Time to force Big Pharma's hand on insulin production?
When Novo Nordisk announced a deal last year with local drug manufacturer Aspen to produce human insulin in vials on its behalf for Africa, human rights...
SA’s diabetes crisis needs urgent response
According to the recently released Diabetes Summit report, around 4.2m South Africans are estimated to be diabetic, while Percept, a Cape Town-based consulting firm,...
Unequal eye health services calls for urgent state intervention
Despite South Africa producing a substantial number of trained optometrists, most of them work in the private sector and in urban areas, an imbalance...
How the provinces stack up in state oncology treatment
Depending upon where you live, the wait for cancer treatment at a public facility can be more of a death sentence than the disease...
Global call for more pathogen research to prepare for next pandemic
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have urged scientists and political leaders to bolster global research to...
Routine hernia op leads to seven more surgeries for pastor
A Johannesburg pastor has launched an official complaint saying she endured an agonising series of complications after a routine hernia repair at a government...
Gauteng Health fails to spend budget millions – again
Underspending of budgets has critical implications, and Gauteng Health’s failure to spend more than R1.1bn of its 23/24 budget, when there are so many...
Trust in US doctors plunged in pandemic – and still low, finds survey
A recent survey of more than 400 000 American adults found that during the pandemic, trust in physicians and hospitals decreased sharply, and higher...
Almost 120 000 girls give birth in one year
The number of young girls and teenagers having babies remains constant in South Africa, with more than 2 700 girls aged 10 to 14...
Relief as Rolene Wagner returns to hot seat
Former head of the Eastern Cape Department of Health Dr Rolene Wagner returned to the position this week after intervention from the Office of...
US to buy African-made ARVs for Pepfar programme
America is throwing its weight behind African production of antiretrovirals, with the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief programme (Pepfar) committing to buying...
Zero HIV infections for high-risk women with bi-annual jab – SA trial
The long-acting injectable antiretroviral drug lenacapavir (Sunlenca) was highly effective in preventing HIV infection in cisgender women in high-risk countries, according to an interim...
Call to resolve acting CEO crisis in KZN hospitals
KZN provincial hospitals are having a leadership crisis and intervention is urgently needed, according to the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA), which...
Health costs force TB patients deeper into poverty
More than half of South Africa’s tuberculosis patients are struggling to cope with the costs related to their illnesses, with thousands of them sinking...
‘Teflon flu’ sending Americans to hospital
Toxic fumes from burning non-stick frying pans sent a record number of Americans to hospital last year, with data showing that more than 250...
Gauteng Health event targets improved primary healthcare
A two-day summit was recently hosted by the Gauteng Department of Health at which various experts shared ideas on how best to reconfigure service...
Gauteng Health sued over unspent cancer millions
The Cancer Alliance, represented by SECTION27, has filed a court application against the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) after it failed to spend the...