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Hospitals botching pain management – South African study
Most patients do not receive important pain treatment during and after surgery, reports GroundUp, with a recent local study – published in Lancet Africa...
Unions step up threats over GEMS increases
Union members of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) have threatened to withdraw from the scheme – and are investigating legal action, as well...
Baby formula recalled in South Africa
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has recalled baby formula produced by Nutricua Southern Africa, saying there is a possibility of toxin contamination within some...
South African children face health harms from household fuels, pollutants
South Africa’s poorest children are often frequently and unfortunately exposed to numerous harmful pollutants, including from alternative energy sources like wood fires and paraffin...
Durban mothers in IVF baby mix-up row
In a legal tussle likely to have lifelong implications on two families, a black couple from Ballito wants the courts to compel an Indian...
Young scientist to explore nanoparticle therapy for brain cancer
Michael Gomes, a PhD candidate at the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP), has been awarded the 2026 South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)...
When will SA take the prevention of chronic HBV infection seriously?
South Africa bears a significant burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and a notable prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among pregnant...
How medicines pricing works in SA, how it might change
In South Africa, as in many places, pharmaceutical companies are not free to change medicine prices as they wish. In his Inside The Box...
High deaths rates among starving Limpopo children – Wits study
Thousands of South African children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), say concerned experts, calling for urgent review of data quality and reporting...
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...
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...
First SA human HIV vaccine trial launched
A safe, affordable vaccine taken in the first year of life – and never again – is the long-term prize scientists are chasing as...
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’...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
SA HIV vaccine trial picks up again after funding setback
Everything had been leading to the meeting early last year in Zanzibar, where 100 researchers, clinicians and other experts on HIV from across Africa...
KZN Health reverses pharmacy intern freeze after outcry
The financially-stricken KwaZulu-Natal Health Department has done an about-turn on its controversial decision to freeze pharmacy internship posts – announced this past weekend –...
Minister vows talks with GEMS over tariffs hike
The latest hikes by the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) have come under fire from Public Service & Administration Minister Mzamo Buthelezi, who told...
Concern as NCDs rise in young South Africans – Limpopo study
In a small mining town in Limpopo, young people are showing worrying signs of diseases that were once thought to affect only older adults,...
SIU probes vaccine research contracts
Four vaccine research procurement contracts will come under the SIU’s microscope as it investigates serious maladministration and improper conduct allegations in government departments, a...
Support grows for UN health envoy as inquiry deadline looms
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) will decide by the end of January on whether to proceed with a full inquiry into South...
Hidden market fuels fake script industry
The illegal prescription business is flourishing in South Africa, posing increasing public health and economic risks, warn experts, who urge greater effort to combat...
Premium hike slammed by GEMS members
The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) has defended the 9.8% contribution premium hike for its 2m members for next year, telling outraged unions that...
Millions lost to dangerous fake drugs, warns Motsoaledi
Sales of counterfeit and illicit medicines are thriving in South Africa, with SAHPRA having recorded 507 suspected cases in 2024/25, of which 110 were...
First organ donation at pioneering Tygerberg Life Pod
The Life Pod at Tygerberg Hospital recently housed its first organ donor – the first posthumous multi-organ donation in more than two years facilitated...
Sleep-deprived South Africans may be costing economy billions
An exhausted formal employment sector could be losing more than R408bn per year due to employees’ sleep deprivation, according to a global sleep expert,...
Global human rights award for SA psychologists' LGBTQIA+ research
A group of nine psychologists became the first South Africans to receive global recognition for their human rights work – at an online ceremony...
HIV stigma still a major challenge, new report finds
Discrimination and stigma remain a major challenge for HIV+ people in South Africa, according to the 2024 HIV Stigma Index 2.0 report, which found...
Long Covid’s hidden toll on South Africans
Four years after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, South African doctors are still hearing patients complaining that they “feel better, but my mind...
How stargazing could transform mental health in South Africa
With South Africa’s increasing burden of mental health challenges, a transformative research project is unveiling novel ways in which local scientists hope the night...
Clinic staff extort money from migrants
Immigrants say clinic staff at several ciinics in Gauteng are now demanding money for them in exchange for ARVs, other chronic medications, and baby...
Highs and low in healthcare in 2025
The year’s biggest health story by far has been the cuts to US aid for health and US support for health research. But it’s...
Drinking habits in SA, Botswana, to be probed in long-term study
The University of Cape Town and the SA Medical Research Council have launched a five-year multidisciplinary project to address harmful alcohol use in South...
SA's critical care sector grossly under-resourced
With a shortage of subspecialists, specially trained nurses and ICU beds, critical care in South Africa falls far short in addressing the needs of...
Mothball poisoning a significant threat for children – SA study
Childhood poisoning is a significant health concern in South Africa – especially in densely populated informal housing settlements where children are frequently exposed to...
Testosterone helps restore South African women’s libido in midlife
Testosterone treatment is revolutionising the sexual health landscape for women by restoring libido post menopause, say experts, with interest in this rapidly increasing not...
SA regulators battle to stem tide of illicit weight loss jabs
The booming trade in black market weight loss drugs in South Africa is spiralling, with authorities seemingly unable to plug the sources or prevent...