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Health Dept warns over planned 3-day funerals strike
Some of the funeral industry is planning a three-day national shutdown in a bid to get government's attention over a long list of demands...
NHI Bill: Inadequate measures to prevent looting, warns DA
The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has inadequate checks and balances to prevent money being looted on a huge scale, the Democratic Alliance (DA)...
More than a third of South Africans have had COVID-19 — Madhi
Based on antibody testing, between 35% and 40% of South Africans have been infected by COVID-19, estimates Prof Shabhir Madhi, a member of the Medical...
SARS: Pandemic tenderers for PPE mostly not tax compliant
More than a R1bn in personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders went to politically connected persons and 63% of the companies were not even tax...
Almost a million fewer HIV tests in first month of lockdown
Testing for HIV at public health facilities declined 57% during the first month of lockdown instituted because of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa,...
Leaked SA govt analysis: Severe healthcare staff shortages by 2025
South Africa requires billions of rands of additional investment to avoid severe public sector healthcare worker shortages by 2025, according to a leaked ministerial...
AG reveals scale of COVID-19 procurement corruption; UIF execs suspended
The first report-back today by the Auditor-General on the extent of the COVID-19 corruption has uncovered outright fraud and widespread ignoring of procurement rules...
Court forbids Nehawu's national strike on pain of SAPS intervention
Friday's planned nationwide strike by National Education, Health & Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) members was stopped after the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) obtained...
COVID-19 corruption scandal hits R5bn and is still growing
South Africa's pandemic corruption scandal continues to grow, with R5bn of the R10.38bn spent in relief efforts now under investigation, writes MedicalBrief.
The South African...
Mkhize: Fast-track medical visas and a database for unemployed locals
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize informed Parliament that a national database of unemployed health professionals has been compiled to address the shortage of infectious...
Locum arrested; Gauteng doctor faces disciplinary proceedings
Following a random inspection by the Health Professions Council of SA at a Gauteng practice, a non-registered locum was arrested while her medical practitioner employee...
MAC experts question need for a WHO 'surge team'
Members of the ministerial advisory committee (MAC) who have been advising the South African Health Department on COVID-19, have questioned the need for a...
RAF payment problems hit medical experts, endangering practices
Medical experts have been hard hit by the twin forces of Road Accident Fund (RAF) non-payments and COVID-19, potentially making their practices financially unsustainable.
The...
Nehawu threatens nationwide strike and at National Health Labs
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) will launch a national work stoppage on Friday (21 August) and potentially a national strike...
SA's nurses: Poorly trained, in poor health, and living in fear
Most of South Africa's nurses lack confidence in their training, more than 40% have poor health, and a quarter are experiencing severe psychological distress, reports...
Euthanasia doctor struck from NZ register over SA murders
New Zealand-born euthanasia advocate Professor Sean Davison has been struck from that country's medical register for failing to disclose his role in the assisted...
Lockdown likely to be eased another level
A steady decline in the infection rate and other critical indicators have raised hopes that the worst of the pandemic's first wave is over,
Noting...
Islamic doctors warn over home care for COVID-19 patients
The Islamic Medical Association of SA has issued a public warning over home care as a substitute for hospital admission for patients who have...
Head scratching over donation of SA medical supplies to Cuba
At a pivotal juncture in the country’s fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus, when the rate of infections is almost at a peak and healthcare...
Cautious optimism from Mkhize as infection and ICU mortality statistics improve
Despite the coronavirus plateaus in three provinces and dexamethasone dramatically improving ICU survival rates, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has warned that South Africa could...
SA demand soars for plant linked to Madagascar's coronavirus 'cure'
Demand for the leaves of Artemisia afra – also known as lengana, uMhlonyane, African wormwood, and Wilde Als in South Africa – has soared...
Nehawu threatens national strike over lack of PPE
Health workers have threatened to go on a national strike in September, when the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to peak in parts of the...
A 'relentless increase' in excess deaths from natural causes — SAMRC
The SA Medical Research Council's weekly analysis of registered deaths has shown a "relentless increase" on the number of excess deaths expected based on...
Nervous COVID-19 patients want home care rather than hospital admission
Nervousness over overcrowded hospitals has led to a demand for private doctors to create COVID-19 "wards" in patient's homes, reports The Times.
Many patients refuse...
HPCSA deregisters the 'Butcher of Benoni'
A plastic and reconstruction surgeon has been removed from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) register after he was found guilty of...
CMS rejects practitioners' 'pay in advance' proposal
A proposal by struggling private health sector practitioners to tap into medical schemes funds for advance payments has been turned down by the Council...
SAMA warns that taxi commuters at COVID risk
SA Medical Association president, Dr Angelique Coetzee, has warned that commuters spending more than 20 minutes in a fully loaded taxi, without proper ventilation,...
First antibody test gets limited go ahead from SA regulator
The first COVID-19 antibody rapid blood test kit has been approved for use in South Africa, but, Spotlight reports, it is strictly not for...
Karim warns against political pressure swamping science
If scientists compromise on science and give in to political pressures during the scourge of COVID-19, the pandemic may end up killing more people,...
Hospital beds booked for SA mineworkers filled by others
South Africa’s mines are finding that pre-arranged hospital beds earmarked for mine workers afflicted with COVID-19 have already been allocated, as the country’s health...
SIU probes corruption linked to R500bn COVID-19 relief fund
The Special Investigating Unit's health sector anti-corruption forum has prioritised allegations of fraud and corruption in the region of R3bn related to the R500bn the government...
Cipla brings Gilead's remdesivir generic to SA
Indian drug manufacturer Cipla is set to bring its generic version of Gilead Science’s coronavirus drug remdesivir to South Africa within the next few...
UCT report on 'corrosive' factors around suicide of Health Sciences dean
The University of Cape Town released its report into the suicide two years ago of Health Sciences dean, Professor Bongani Mayosi, reports MedicalBrief. The...
Mkhize warns of 'exponential rise' of COVID-19 infections
South Africa's COVID-19 infection rate continues to rise rapidly approaching an expected “exponential” surge during the latter winter months of July and August...
Row over CMS suspension of black medical schemes' merger
The Council of Medical Schemes (CMS) has stepped in to halt the proposed merger of black-owned Sizwe Medical Aid and Hosmed Medical Scheme, in...
Another R145bn for COVID-19 fight in supplementary budget
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has made R145bn available to fund the government’s Covid-19 efforts. He said that the allocations had been informed by “epidemiological modelling”,...
First trial in Africa to develop a vaccine against COVID-19
The first participants in South Africa’s first clinical trial that seeks to develop a vaccine against COVID-19 are being vaccinated this week.
The first clinical...
Survey shows that SA doctors are taking psychological strain
A third of South African doctors surveyed by MPS, the international medical defence organisation, have experienced a decline in mental wellbeing as the COVID-19...
Alleged Tshwane police assault on pulmonologist condemned
Professional societies have condemned recent incidences of allegedly unacceptable treatment of doctors and colleagues, at the hands of law enforcement, reports News24. The societies...
Health departments 'still discussing' COVID-19 deals with private hospitals
South Africa’s three largest private hospital groups, Netcare, Mediclinic and Life Healthcare, are still in discussions with provincial health departments to allow public COVID-19...