HomeSouth Africa
South Africa
Durban's private hospitals top Discovery's patient survey
Durban has six and Cape Town three of SA's top 20 private hospitals, out of 140 rated in the annual Discovery Health patient survey.
The...
Women wanting abortions sleep on pavement at Addington
Women wanting abortions have resorted to sleeping overnight on the pavement outside Durban’s Addington Hospital because the unit treats only 10 women a day,...
Overwhelming satisfaction with SA public healthcare services
Statistics South Africa says that 81% of households using public healthcare services in 2017 were either "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the provisions they...
Law firm that advised Gauteng Health on Esidimeni earned R103m
Gauteng Health paid R174,000 to the law firm that gave legal advice to terminate the Life Esidimeni contract for mental health patients, a decision...
Criminal charges for protesters who trashed hospital
CCTV camera footage is being scrutinised by police to identify the perpetrators who caused damage estimated at R3m plus during violent protests at the...
SA med students complain that Russian education sub-standard
A group of 53 Mpumalanga medical students thought they would get top-class education in one of Russia’s universities but, says a City Press report,...
ASSAf wants 'reconceptualising' of health education
There is a need to regulate the health care profession to ensure equity, the Academy of Science of SA said in the report into...
DA demands commission of inquiry into state of public health
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish a judicial commission of inquiry into the state of public healthcare, after...
Under-fire Motsoaledi deploys 200 in nationwide intervention
Stung into action by mounting warnings of systemic collapse, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in the past week despatched 200 ministry officials to hospitals nationwide,...
HPCSA warns on locums following arrests of 'illegals'
Medical practitioners in private practice using locums when they are not available to practice are urged to ensure that the contracted locum are registered...
End of USAID funding puts MSM programme at risk
An innovative programme that forms a core part of the South African government’s health services tailored to the needs of men who have sex...
Discovery publishes data on claims trends
Escalating chronic disease, the high cost of ongoing medicines, and SA mirroring increasing cancer prevalence internationally, are all trends reflected in recent data from...
Motsoaledi expects resistance to new medicines IP policy
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi says he expects resistance from pharmaceutical companies against the implementation of the government’s new intellectual property policy which was...
SA Military Health Service in not well, SANDF says
The SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) will have to put up with deterioration in facilities, obsolete equipment and a shortage of suitably qualified personnel...
SA'S public hospitals facing BCG vaccine shortages
Hospitals are facing a crisis due to the shortage of the vital Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, which protects new-born babies from severe types of...
SAHRC to monitor facilities before Ndlovu Care Group patients are transferred
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will be monitoring the readiness of public health facilities in Moutse before the Department of Health begins...
Motsoaledi's uniform tariffs will cause 'untold damage' to medical profession – SAPPF
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s plans for a uniform tariff for healthcare services may prompt doctors to quit the profession or seek jobs overseas, says...
Free State's entry-level Chinese equipment is breaking down
Brand new theatre beds are broken within months and sub-standard anaesthesia machines stand unused following the award of a multi-million rand medical equipment tender...
Esidimeni NGO where 37 died is struggling to pay for food
Still reeling from the devastating Life Esidimeni tragedy‚ patients at one of the homes at the heart of the crisis, where 37 people died,...
Paramedics threaten to withdraw night services after attacks
Attacks on paramedics could to lead to a health crisis, with the SA Emergency Personnel Union (Saepu) threatening to withdraw the services of its...
Union threatens nationwide shutdown over North West demands
The National Education‚ Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) has threatened to shut down the entire country if it does not get a favourable...
SA Infant mortality rate at its lowest in almost two decades
South Africa’s infant mortality rate is at its lowest in almost two decades, having fallen by 32% between 2002 and 2017. This improvement aligns...
A 3-month jail sentence on the cards for those smoking in public
South Africans may be jailed up for up to three months for smoking in public – and employers for up to a year if...
Cuba-SA doctor programme downsized, 'not suspended'
After 22 years and billions of rand spent, the national Department of Health has taken a decision to downsize its Cuba-South Africa doctor programme,...
More than 1 in 4 of SA's listeriosis cases end in death
The deadly South African listeriosis outbreak has a high 28.6% fatality rate, according to a report by the National Listeria Incident Management Team (IMT)....
Nehawu and EFF 'rampage' at Jo'burg hospital, claims DA
Gauteng Health has condemned the ongoing acts of vandalism and disruption of services at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital during an unprotected strike.
News24 reports...
Cabinet places North West Health under administration after strike violence
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced on the eve of the long weekend that Cabinet had invoked Section 100 of the Constitution to place the...
SAMA slams surprise parliamentary visit to Khayelitsha Hospital
Parliament's select committee on petitions and executive undertakings has come under fire from the SA Medical Association (SAMA) for conducting an unannounced visit to...
Cuba/SA medical student programme a 'headache' – Motsoaledi
SA's massive programme for training medical students in Cuba‚ was so large that it had become a headache for both countries and a decision...
NW Health head suspended over Gupta-linked contract
North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo has suspended the Health Department's head, Dr Andrew Thabo Lekalakala, over a contract given to Gupta-linked healthcare company Mediosa....
Surge of complaints to SA"s health standards compliance office
The Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) has seen a surge in complaints to its consumer hotline in the wake of the Life Esidimeni...
Gauteng Health delays Esidimeni police investigation
Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane has revealed that four out of the 46 Life Esidimeni inquest cases have not been finalised as the...
Bigger WHO team to boost SA's fight against listeriosis
South Africa's fight against the deadly listeriosis outbreak has received a shot in the arm the World Health Organisation (WHO) announcing it had increased...
SA drug makers may have to pay backlog fee to clear pipeline
South African drug makers may be asked to pay a "backlog fee" to help clear a pipeline of medicines waiting years for approval. Business...
Medical scheme members struggle to pay for mental illness
Many medical scheme members with mental illness are being forced to dig deep into their own pockets to foot their bills and are delaying...
Jhb clinic wins coveted international architecture award
A R23m South African health facility has won first prize in the Health Completed Buildings at the Berlin World Architecture Festival Awards. Bizcommunity reports...
Motsoaledi backs down: Primary cause of listeriosis still unknown
The cause of the world’s biggest listeriosis outbreak – which has killed more than 180 people and was blamed by Health Minister on infections...
Human rights violations at Eastern Cape mental hospital — SASOP
An investigation by the SA Society of Psychiatry (Sasop) into complaints against the management of Tower Hospital in Fort Beaufort has uncovered alleged human...
World TB Day: Worldwide treatment gains under threat in SA
Tuberculosis (TB) treatment gains worldwide are threatened in SA by the increasing trend in drug resistant-TB, says the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Tuberculosis...
SA's poor fleeced to build Dubai hospital for the rich
The poor in North West Province and the Free State were fleeced to build a billion-dollar hospital for the rich in Dubai, in a...