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Digital Vibes corruption: Mkhize's 'special leave' may be permanent
In response to growing pressure, both from within the African National Congress and the public, President Cyril Ramaphosa this week placed minister of health...
Forensic investigation into 'rot' at Compensation Fund
Employment & Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi says forensic investigators will be appointed by the end of June to get to the bottom of the...
Magashule: ‘Denialist' Mbeki should be prosecuted for AIDS deaths
Suspended secretary-general of the ANC, Ace Magashule, has accused former President Thabo Mbeki for being an AIDS denialist and suggests that he should be...
Scooter ambulance tender unlawful; Premier's adviser faces disciplinary action
The R10.1m scooter ambulance tender awarded by Eastern Cape Health to Fabkomp has been declared unlawful by the Special Tribunal and the provincial premier's...
Gauteng recorded only 42% of estimated Covid-19 deaths
Gauteng Health says that it has recorded only about 42% (10,770) of the excess deaths figure estimated by the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC),...
Pharmacists concerned over 'limited dialogue' on NHI Bill
Pharmacists have raised concern over the government's ‘limited dialogues’ with them on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, reports News24.
During parliamentary public hearings on...
Workplaces join vaccination rollout effort
Business, labour and the government have reached agreement at Nedlac on workplace Covid-19 vaccine guidelines to ensure workers are encouraged to be vaccinated, and...
Ramaphosa on alcohol ban concerns: Don't talk to me. Talk to Nedlac
President Cyril Ramaphosa has referred to Nedlac the liquor industry concerns over another possible ban on alcohol sales as COVID-19 cases increase, writes MedicalBrief.
Industry...
Vaccine cheats try to game the vaccination registration system
The team at the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) has been spending hours trying to stop South Africans younger than 60 — who keep...
Support from Wits study for high seroprevalence in SA
In some part of Gauteng, up to 43% of the population already has COVID-19 antibodies, according to a study by Wits University vaccinologist Prof...
Sanofi/GSK trials boosts vaccine hopes; turns to SA variant
Sanofi/GlaxoSmithKline's potential COVID-19 vaccine triggered strong immune responses in all adult age groups in preliminary trials, writes <strongMedicalBrief. New trials will test the vaccine...
Police minister apologises as Forensic Lab backlog grows
Police Minister Bheki Cele has apologised in the National Assembly for the backlog of more than 200 000 outstanding DNA results in the state...
SIU probe into fraudulent PPE contracts now exceeds R14bn
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is investigating allegations regarding the irregular procurement of COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) with a contract value of R14.2bn...
Clicks buys Pick n Pay's retail pharmacy business
In a deal that still requires regulatory approval, Clicks is buying Pick n Pay’s retail pharmacy business as it accelerates the expansion of its...
SA's stop-start vaccine roll-out has increased hesitancy — Nids-Cram Survey
South Africa's stop-start vaccination roll-out, coupled with miscommunication and fear fuelled by reports of blood clots and other side effects has had the insidious...
Mkhize said to have warned provinces over third wave
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has warned provinces that the country is, in essence, in the third wave of COVID-19, reports News24, citing "government...
J&J roll-out falters again despite SAHPRA clearing jab for pregnant women
While health regulator SAHPRA has given pregnant and breastfeeding women the green light to receive the Johnson & Johnson jab, the vaccine's rollout has...
As SA tests for Indian variant, MAC members said to want tighter border controls
South Africa is testing for the COVID-19 strain from India, following at least 28 cases on two vessels in ports and three air passengers...
Provinces to pay another R45m for Cuban students following currency ‘miscalculation'
Following a foreign exchange miscalculation, provincial health departments have been instructed by the National Department of Health to kick in another R45m to the R122m...
CMS backs patients' rights to independent healthcare providers
The Council for Medical Schemes has banned the imposition of excessive co-payments on patients who choose health-care providers outside the designated service providers (DSPs)...
Mkhize: Pfizer backs down over 'unreasonable demands'
Pfizer has backed down over its controversial demand that the South African government put up sovereign assets guaranteeing an indemnity against the cost of...
State-owned pharma 'exists just in name', Blade tells Parliament
Since 2011, the government has tried at least three different approaches, and spent millions of rand, to establish a state-owned pharmaceutical manufacturer – but...
Ivermectin climbdown comes with multimillion price tag for SAHPRA and DoH
Government resistance to the use of Ivermectin is over, reports MedicalBrief. A settlement agreement with the four groups that had gone to court to...
More vaccine confusion: MAC contradicts Mkhize over Novavax
There has been yet another vaccine fumble, this time over the Novavax vaccine writes MedicalBrief. Health Minister Mkhize told parliament that the ministerial advisory...
Mkhize: Pfizer agreement sets stage for 'rapid expansion' of rollout
South Africa has signed an agreement with Pfizer Inc for 20m dual-shot COVID-19 vaccine doses, TimesLIVE reports a government official said, boosting plans to...
SAHPRA settles over Ivermectin; AfriForum gets R500,000 costs
The civil rights organisation AfriForum and Dr George Coetzee have successfully obtained a settlement and R500,000 costs agreement with the SA Health Products Regulatory...
SA vaccine rollout: A supply boost and ambitious new plans
South Africa's fumbling vaccine rollout was boosted this week with a commitment of 30m Johnson & Johnson doses with deliveries starting by end April,...
Pfizer demands personal indemnity from SA Health and Finance ministers
Pfizer is demanding that South Africa’s Health and Finance ministers personally sign a COVID-19 vaccine supply agreement so that it is indemnified from any...
NCCC considering move to Alert Level 2 ahead of Easter
The National Coronavirus Command Council is considering moving South Africa to Alert Level 2 ahead of Easter, writes MedicalBrief.
Co-chair of the ministerial advisory committee...
Lesotho moves to cancel Netcare's annual R500m contract
Netcare’s R500m-a-year contract to manage the biggest hospital in Lesotho hangs by a thread after the government moved to cancel the deal, reports BusinessLIVE. This...
Mkhize urges global coalition to call for vaccine patents’ waiver
Health minister Zweli Mkhize has urged the Access to COVID Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global coalition established to combat the coronavirus pandemic, to join...
SAHPRA approves emergency use application for Pfizer vaccine
South Africa's drugs regulator SAHPRA has announced that it had approved a conditional "section 21" emergency use application for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by...
HPCSA suspends 16 implicated in SIU corruption probe
The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has placed 16 employees on precautionary suspension, after they were implicated in bribery and corruption involving the...
Healthcare workers make up 60% of Discovery Life's claims
Discovery's life insurance business, Discovery Life, has paid out a total of R1.5bn in COVID-19-related claims to date and has flagged that its healthcare...
Call for SA Law Reform Commission review on criminal charges against doctors
The Medical Protection Society (MPS) has called on the government to protect patient safety by committing to a SA Law Reform Commission review on...
Further expert warnings against passing of Compensation Bill
Health experts and trade unions have cautioned Parliament not to pass the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill as it could be...
Competition Tribunal told of SAPS sanitiser deal over-charging
Two companies accused of overcharging the South African Police Service (SAPS) for hand sanitiser have appeared at the Competition Tribunal in the first COVID-19...
Mkhize's associates score from COVID-19 and NHI contracts
Digital Vibes, an obscure communications company from KwaZulu-Natal, appointed two close associates of Health Minister Zweli Mkhize as paid consultants after it secured an...
Ten forensic reports show scope of graft at GEMS
A forensic administration found that executives of the Government Employees Medical Scheme, which is positioning itself to administer the National Health Insurance fund, have...
SIU's scooter report ‘shocking and defamatory’ — Health MEC
The findings of the Special Investigating Unit’s probe into the procurement of motorcycle ambulances by the Eastern Cape government are “shocking, defamatory, condescending, unlawful...