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Talking Points
Nigeria's elites confronting the daily realities faced by their compatriots
As he ascended to power in that historic 2015 vote, President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) party made a raft of...
Poor reporting fans damaging African backlash over vaccine testing and usage
False media reports, based on social posts, that suggested that Africa will be a "guinea pig" for COVID-19 testing, led to a torrent of...
Criminalising the 'spreaders' does not work
‘We should think very carefully about whether criminalising the spread of the coronavirus will help or hurt South Africans as we battle the outbreak,’...
Debate rages over 'severely flawed' Imperial study that sparked the UK lockdown
Debate is raging over the Imperial College London study that predicted up to half a million COVID-19 deaths and sparked the UK lockdown, with...
Scepticism over Russia's low coronavirus numbers
A Russian doctor warns in The New Yorker that it is impossible to know the real situation in a country that claims fewer coronavirus...
Concern over Sweden's giant 'business as usual' experiment with COVID-19
Swedish children continue to pour through the gates of their schools and kindergartens as the Nordic nation stands increasingly alone in Europe in its...
When three epidemics collide: TB, HIV and COVID-19 in South Africa
Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV pose a significant burden on South Africa’s health system. And now there's the coronavirus.
There’s a close relationship between the TB...
COVID-19 and South Africa: The coming winter flood
An editorial on Politicsweb analyses the grim realities facing South Africa in the face of COVID-19 and concludes that it is unlikely that the...
COVID-19 pandemic could be shorter than expected – contrarian view from Nobel laureate
While many epidemiologists are warning of months, or even years, of massive social disruption and millions of deaths, Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate and...
Lack of finality on CMS ban 'comes at expense of those most in need of medical care'
Given the appeals against the Council for Medical Schemes' decision to ban low-cost benefit options (LCBO) and the slow pace of discussions, it is...
Mbeki and Trump: A tale of two denialist presidents
Conspiracy theories, disregard for science and grandiosity are hallmarks of how the US president has handled the coronavirus pandemic — and his words are...
SA hospitals will struggle to cope with a likely exponential infection rate
In just over a week, the number of South Africans who have contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus has gone from one to 16, to 116....
Older people not being considered in national and global planning on COVID-19
The largest numbers of deaths will occur among older people in low and middle-income countries, yet the global response neglects this group, write researchers...
South Korea and Italy are contrasting case studies in dealing with pandemic
In Italy, millions are locked down and more than 1,000 people have died from the coronavirus. In South Korea, hit by the disease at...
Strategic approach to COVID-19: Making sense of the 'knowns unknowns'
For a government's strategic planners, what is not known is as important as what is known, when it comes to thinking about the coronavirus,...
'No surprise' that COVID-19 is taking long to affect Africa
It's not under-reporting, nor genetic resistance. The delay in coronavirus infections on the continent have to do with Africa's economic relationship with the world,...
Italy shows that draconian quarantine measures don't work in the West
Quarantine in China is a world away from the less-absolute and rather haphazard measures of Italy, writes The Telegraph columnist Ross Clark.
Clark writes...
COVID-19 will shine spotlight on inequality in SA's health sector
In developed countries, the strongest predictors of dying from COVID-19 are advanced age and pre-existing health conditions, writes Dr Tom Boyles on Daily Maverick....
Budget 'protects' NHI from cuts but Treasury hints at implementation delay
The National Health Insurance (NHI) is protected from government-wide budget cuts, according to the National Treasury. But there is also a hint in the...
Spain and Portugal should reconsider 'turning death into a medical treatment'
Spain and Portugal are moving towards legalising euthanasia. They should think again, writes Kevin Yuill who teaches American studies at the University of Sunderland...
Doctors prone to moral distress when caring for cognitively-impaired elderly
Compromised professional integrity, which correlates with burnout and depression, is often experienced by doctors treating older, cognitively-impaired adults who have surrogate decision-makers, a US...
Two men, two losses, two eras
The loss of any loved one is painful and the loss of a spouse is profound. How it is endured depends also on the...
Drug trial consent: Ethically and legally sound without triggering a nocebo effect
Patients need to be able to make informed consent when taking part in drug trials, writes University of Oxford's Jeremy Howick in The Conversation....
Many not grasping what NHI will entail – Afriforum
The travesty is not that income level determines access to quality healthcare, writes Dr Eugene Brink, of Afriforum, on Politicsweb. "The real travesty is...
CMS reversal on low-cost benefits amounts to 'Let them eat cake' — Agility CEO
The Council for Medical Schemes' abrupt prohibition of low-cost benefit options will have "far-reaching and harmful effects, not least on the poor which these...
SA nurses: Underfunded, stressed, overworked and abused
A lack of government healthcare spending is key to understanding the "bad rap" given to nurses in South Africa, writes a former Canadian...
Why the courts are sceptical about sick notes
The High Court issuing of an stayed arrest warrant for former President Jacob Zuma over a questionable sick note is by no means a...
Misinformation making coronavirus fight 'even harder’ — WHO head
World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says that misinformation is "making the work of our heroic workers even harder". "I would also...
First discovery of new strain HIV in 20 years
The first discovery in nearly 20 years of a rare new strain of HIV is important, but it does not signify a new...
NHI roadshows show 'poor health services horror' facing ordinary citizens
The National Health Insurance (NHI) roadshows currently crossing the country amply illustrate the horror ordinary citizens suffer under poorly delivered public health services, says...
The man who couldn't die – a personal reflection on euthanasia
Over the past decade, an often-emotional public debate on the possible legalisation of euthanasia has wracked South Africa. Professor Pieter Carstens of the University...
Revisit Bill in light of ruling on 'pay-as-you-go ' negligence settlements — editorial
The State Liability Amendment Bill, which has been "panned by critics and left gathering dust", needs to be updated in line with a recent...
Insulin price illustrates global web of patent laws protecting Big Pharma
The high price of insulin, which has reached as much as $450 per month has raised outrage across the US, writes Faisal Chaudhry, professor...
WHO 'between a rock and a hard place' over coronavirus
Before the World Health Organisation dares declare a the coronavirus a global emergency, it must weigh scientific imperatives against China's political sensitivities, writes MedicalBrief.
Most...
SA Health Review: Too many benefit options 'confusing' for med scheme members
Market segmentation analyses suggest that medical scheme beneficiaries in South Africa are confused by too many benefit options; that choice sets facing different beneficiaries...
Inflammation's possible role in psychiatric disorders
Unlikely as it may seem, #inflammation has become a hashtag. Rather than simply being on our side, fighting infections and healing wounds, it turns...
A strategy for the millions of HIV-exposed but uninfected children
In 2018, 90% of the almost 15m children worldwide who were HIV-exposed and uninfected were from sub-Saharan Africa. Strikingly, half come just five African...
The 8 issues that will define SA healthcare in 2020
2020 will be a critically important year for healthcare in South Africa, writes Spotlight. It has formulated eight questions to set out what is...
CMS CEO defends 'rogue' outlawing of low-cost medical scheme plans
The outlawing of low-cost benefit options, intended to increase the affordability of schemes, by the Council for Medical Schemes was not a “rogue” action,...
Rwanda's cheap, generic morphine production model
By putting morphine production and distribution under government control a, Rwanda has become a model for Africa.
As thousands die from addiction in rich countries...