HomeSouth Africa
South Africa
Esidimeni victims' families to get R1.2m each
Retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke has ordered the state to pay the families of the victims of the Life Esidimeni tragedy R1.2m each....
Medication ATMs launched in SA: patient waiting times cut to under 3 minutes
A ground-breaking 'ATM pharmacy' that gives patients with chronic illnesses their repeat medication in under three minutes has been officially opened in Alexandra, Johannesburg.
The...
Foreign-trained students win first round against HPCSA
In the face of a threatened class action, the Deputy Minister of Health Mathume Phaahla has announced that the Health Professions Council of SA...
5 cases of human rabies — NICD warns on animal vaccination
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has warned animal owners to vaccinate their pets after at least five cases of human rabies were...
SA's stricter anti-smoking measures awaiting Cabinet approval
The SA Health Department is adopting stricter measures on smoking across the country and, reports Eyewitness News, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is calling for zero...
Med students join class action against HPCSA's accreditation policy
A growing number of medical students, parents, doctors and prominent legal figures have come out against a policy that makes it difficult for South...
Nurses disciplined for theft, patient assaults and fights
Most of the nurses who appeared before the SA Nursing Council last year were disciplined for theft. The Times reports that the other cases...
Returning doctors complain of 'unfair' HPCSA regulations
Hundreds of South African doctors who have studied medicine abroad fear their degrees could be rendered worthless because of 'unfair' regulations by the Health...
Psychiatrist using 'outdated' checklist faces HPCSA complaint
Use of the 'outdated' Novartis SA's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) checklist instead of the Conners Rating Scale has led to a complaint to...
Listeriosis death toll reaches 176
The death toll from an outbreak of the food-borne disease listeriosis in South Africa has more than doubled from previous numbers given in January,...
SAMA's attempt to disestablish trade union structure thwarted
The SA Medical Association's attempt to disestablish its trade union structure has been rejected at an extraordinary general meeting. SAMA's leadership called the meeting...
Budget 2018: Med scheme tax credits capped for NHI
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has trimmed the tax credits taxpayers receive for their medical scheme contributions to raise an extra R4.2bn for National Health...
Discovery offers to partner with government on NHI
Discovery CEO Adrian Gore says he would welcome the opportunity to partner with the government in scaling some of the insurer’s healthcare innovations across...
HPCSA appeal on Noakes' not guilty verdict begins
The Health Professions Council of South Africa's (HPCSA) appeal against a not guilty verdict for Professor Tim Noakes, handed down by the council's disciplinary...
49 former Life Esidimeni patients still missing
Police have found eight more former patients from Life Esidimeni who were listed as missing by the Gauteng Health Department have been found, leaving...
Esidimeni final arguments: Putting a price on pain and suffering
The Esidimeni tragedy families will have to wait a month before they know the outcome of arbitration hearings. Polity reports that on Friday 9...
Listeriosis death rate running at 30%
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases says that the number of confirmed listeriosis cases is now 852 and 107 people have died, reports...
EFF to 'name and shame' SA's bad nurses and doctors
Bad nurses and doctors will be named and shamed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) as the red berets make the state of public...
Questions asked about Gupta-linked healthcare group
A Gupta-linked company received a R30m advance from the North West Health Department a day before it started operating its mobile clinic in the...
BHF: SA pharma industry can and must do better
The Board of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa (BHF) says there must be recognition that the pharma industry 'can and must do better', in...
Another 14 listeriosis deaths but source not yet found
Fourteen deaths in four days. That's what the National Institute of Communicable Diseases’ latest listeriosis outbreak report reveals. The Times reports that, according to...
Solidarity challenges Motsoaledi over community service for nurses
If the SA Health Department cannot comply with its statutory duty to places nurses for the community service year, it must exempt them, the...
Discovery: R568m recovered but billions still lost to medical aid fraud
Half-a-billion rand. The Times reports that that is what Discovery Health administrators claimed it has saved Discovery Medical Aid – and other medical aids...
Finalists announced for SA's first e-health innovation programme
South Africa’s first dedicated digital health accelerator, Digital Health Cape Town (DHCT), has announced the finalists for their inaugural Accelerator Programme designed to foster...
Decision to cancel student nurse intake condemned
The decision by Gauteng Health to cancel the intake of student nurses at some nursing colleges has been strongly criticsed by the Democratic Alliance...
SA listeria cases rising but NICD cautions on the numbers
SA's National Institute Communicable Diseases (NICD) warns that because of 'recent challenges' in state laboratory information system data and a 'public holiday lag', its...
NHI pilot scheme late payments 'resolved'
The SA Health Department says the late payment of staff at National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot sites has been 'resolved' and that the problem...
Motsoaledi's single exit price for medicines ‘devastating’
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has gazetted an increase in the single exit price for medicines and scheduled substances, which the pharmaceutical industry says is...
NICD releases increased malaria risk advisory
The SA National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) released an advisory on increased malaria risk in three provinces earlier December, with travellers advised to...
Most allocated jobs but junior doctors bemoan lack of planning
Junior doctors have blamed government’s lack of planning for the emotional roller coaster they faced about starting their compulsory community service this month, reports...
Medical unions warn of court action over student placement promises
Medical unions have sent a clear warning to the Department of Health: ensure medical students secure internships and community service posts next year, or...
Usage of day-hospitals is growing
Day-hospital group Advanced Health’s share price leapt after it said that 45% more patients were admitted at its hospitals in November than in the...
DoH attempting to close drug-marker incentivising loopholes
The SA Department of Health has revived its attempt to close legal loopholes which it says allows drug makers to incentivise pharmacies and medical...
Final-year SA med students can appeal placements
The SA Health Department says that final-year medical and health students will be allowed to appeal their placement allocations.
According to an Eyewitness News report,...
Medical care suffering as the taps run dry
The running out of water in the Western Cape because of drought and in southern KwaZulu-Natal because of alleged sabotage of municipal facilities, has...
Testimony on the grim state of mental healthcare in SA
Psychiatrist Dr Lesley Robertson painted a grim picture of the state of mental healthcare in SA, in testimony before the SA Human Rights Commission.
“We...
Mahlangu denies ignoring request to appear at hearing
Former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu has criticised 'false' media reports about her avoiding a subpoena to appear before the Esidimeni arbitration hearing.
Former Gauteng...
Boy dies after ambulance is attacked and delayed
An eight-year-old boy has died after the ambulance he was being transported in came under attack on the N2 highway, reports Eyewitness News. The...
UK university dumps ex-Health MEC over Life Esidimeni
The University of Bedfordshire has suspended former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu from her studies 'given the severity of the allegations’ against her at...
Billions of rands to fill posts based on ‘wrong’ organograms – Motsoaledi
It would take R10.6bn to fill the 38,000 vacant posts in the public health sector at the end of September. Business Day reports that...