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Vaccines saved 154m lives over 50 years – Lancet study
Vaccinations have played a massive role in saving millions of lives over the past half century, the successful eradication of smallpox, certified in 1980,...
African countries pledge to end ‘silent disease’
African countries will prioritise plans to eliminate hepatitis, according to a declaration signed and adopted this week at the African Viral Hepatitis Conference in Cape...
Leprosy persists in South Africa despite 'elimination' status – 20-year study
Although leprosy has been eliminated (<1 case per 10 000 population) in South Africa since 1926, new cases continue to be reported, say experts,...
True impact of Covid still unknown – Global Burden of Disease study
Covid-19 has been the world's largest health setback in more than 70 years as measured by life expectancy, according to the Global Burden of...
New Bara CEO’s credentials under scrutiny
The appointment of Dr Nthabiseng Makgana as the CEO of Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital has raised concerns by workers and the HR department...
Tembisa Hospital buckling under pressure of shortages
Gauteng Health’s MEC has admitted Tembisa Hospital is struggling to provide services to patients, thanks to 104 vacancies and a critical lack of equipment,...
Ultra-processed food linked to higher death risk – 30-year study
A three-decades’ long study has concluded that although higher consumption of most ultra-processed foods is linked to a slightly higher risk of death, it...
Can consuming olive oil help reduce dementia?
Harvard University researchers recently suggested that adding just a spoonful of olive oil to your diet every day not only provides powerful health benefits...
Why we’re seeing so many viruses emerge
With the widespread outbreak of mpox in 2022, and the evolving bird flu situation – as well as recent cases of Marburg virus in Equatorial...
New SAMRC chief aims to ‘restore trust in science’
Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, who takes over the hot seat at the South African Medical Research Council in July, may be soft-spoken but he is unafraid...
Pharmacy ARV treatment will erode GPs’ income – HPCSA
The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has warned against pharmacists being allowed to prescribe HIV treatment, saying it could affect the income of...
Overtime cuts impact on hospital services
Cutting doctors’ overtime will have a significant impact on service delivery, particularly on weekends and holidays, with one physician saying this could see hospitals...
New SAHPRA guidelines planned to address codeine abuse
South Africa’s medicines regulator is developing a new set of initiatives to stem the misuse of codeine, found in certain pain relief medicines and...
Three reforms to prioritise to turn around SA healthcare
To drum up support as South Africans head to the polls, President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly vowed to “end the apartheid that remains in healthcare”...
Diabetes a leading killer in SA, but we don't know how many have it
Although diabetes is the second leading cause of death in SA after TB, there is no clear picture of how many people have it...
Mpumalanga patient waits more than a year for MRI
A bedridden father’s struggle for an MRI scan appointment has highlighted the massive healthcare challenges in Mpumalanga, where none of the main hospitals has...
SA could eliminate malaria by 2028 – Health Department
Despite recording about 9 800 cases last year, South Africa is on course to “eliminate” malaria by 2028 as outlined in the National Malaria...
Eastern Cape nurses demand better security after fatal robbery
A brutal robbery at a rural clinic in which a security guard died in a hail of bullets has enraged nursing unions in the...
Pollution linked to stress, heart disease deaths – US study
A study in more than 3 000 US counties, involving more than 315m residents, has suggested that air pollution is linked with stress and...
Activists march for unused R784m to be spent on cancer patients
Despite R784m being set aside by the provincial treasury in March last year for the outsourcing of radiation treatment in Gauteng, the money has...
Scientists warn cake and drinks sweetener can ‘damage gut wall’
The sugar substitute E961 (neotame), used in chewing gum and cakes, among other things, can have a “toxic effect on health”, and damage intestinal...
R2.4bn needed to fill 2 012 vacant posts – Phaahla
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says there are 2 012 unfunded vacant posts of medical doctors countrywide – this does not include other categories...
PM to crack down on ‘sick note’ culture in UK
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be cracking down on what he describes as a “sick note culture”, after pointing out that 94% of...
Adult vaccine programmes give 19x returns, finds world report
A first-of-its-kind study has underscored the dual benefits of adult immunisation programmes, with the experts concluding that these can deliver a return of up to...
Stop resistance to NHI, says ANC
While South Africans face the prospect of little or no private healthcare in the future under the National Health Insurance (NHI), in the UK,...
Call for urology collaboration to address dire shortage
There’s a dire shortage of urology specialists in South Africa, and thus, an urgent need for primary care physicians (PCPs) to be able to...
Top job for disgraced former hospital CEO
Former Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital CEO Dr Nozuko Mkabayi, slammed by former Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba for her appalling performance during her...
Probe into Bara’s AWOL high-flying plastic surgeon
Gauteng Health has launched an investigation into plastic surgeon Dr Brian Monaisa, who has been accused by his peers of skipping work for months...
Non-payment closes theatres in Gauteng hospital
A frustrated supplier, fed-up with delayed payment from Leratong Hospital in Mogale City, Johannesburg, for replacement of an air conditioning system, has “soft-locked” a...
WHO warning on deadly viral hepatitis
At least 3 500 lives are lost daily due to viral hepatitis infections, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, with...
Post-surgery complications higher for African children
After a recent study revealed abysmal outcomes after anaesthesia and surgery for African children with complication rates up to four-fold higher and mortality rates...
New cholera vaccine-makers gearing up as global stocks run out
The global stockpile of cholera vaccine has dried up, with doses being given to patients as fast as they are produced, but the good...
Don’t panic, say experts as HIV drug flagged for resistance
Results from recent studies reveal the emergence of resistance in subsets of HIV patients to dolutegravir – an antiretroviral commonly used in South Africa...
Focus on private practice, experts urge jobless young doctors
As KZN relented after protests by unemployed junior doctors, and advertised 120 posts for medics this week, experts are suggesting that the debate should...
Health Ombud hamstrung by lack of funds
The Office of the Health Ombudsman is battling to resolve serious complaints against public and private health facilities because it has no money to hire investigators.
Health-e...
Gauteng claims surgery backlog cleared
Gauteng Health says it has cleared its massive backlog of 37 000 operations, including of stoma reversals – completing 100 of these procedures in...
Half of SA’s forensic pathology units fail competency tests
Nearly half of the country’s forensic pathology units have failed to achieve competency certification – with just three out of 16 in the Eastern...
One in four HIV+ South Africans not on treatment
Around 50 000 people died of HIV-related causes and around 7.8m were living with HIV in South Africa in 2023 – but only 5.9m...
Tanzania winning NCD war as it merges HIV and diabetes care
Non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes have emerged as serious health crises in developing countries, as HIV was a decade ago. New models of...
Contaminated water linked to soaring KZN pink eye cases
The National Eye Health Advocacy Project believes there could be a link between an outbreak of ‘pink eye’ – conjunctivitis – in KwaZulu-Natal and...