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Talking Points
Duty of care is also for non-medically qualified administrative staff
It is not only medical practitioners but also administrative staff who owe a duty of care to their patients, in conducting themselves with reasonable...
The Bottom Line – the costs and risks of the butt-lift
Butt lift injections and buttock implants were the fastest-growing plastic surgery in the US, up 58% from 2012, but the British Association of Aesthetic...
Africa bears the brunt of the counterfeit medicine curse
Almost half the fake and low-quality medicines reported to the World Health Organisation between 2013 and 2017 were found to be in sub-Saharan Africa,...
As China's health system falters, the desperate smuggle drugs or make their own
Out of a desperation born of necessity, ordinary Chinese are buying drug ingredients online and making them up at home, reports The New York Times....
Egg providers changing the way SA thinks about assisted reproduction
There is limited literature addressing assisted reproduction in Africa, yet the continent’s societies are pronatalist, with immense social, economic and religious imperatives to reproduce, writes...
UK-trained forensic pathologist's alleged role in murder
Medical associations have condemned the alleged role of the top UK-trained Saudi forensic pathologist had in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, reports...
The rise and rise of the cholesterol deniers
Butter is back. Saturated fat is good for you. Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease. By far the greatest threat to our...
SA pharmacies 'knowingly stock dangerous and ineffective products'
The US Food and Drug Administration's Tainted Products Marketed as Dietary Supplements database lists hundreds of products with hidden active ingredients that are unsafe...
There should be no barriers of access to life-saving medicines — ConCourt judge
The intellectual property system remains wildly skewed, favouring the pharmaceutical industry over the public interest, writes Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron in Daily Maverick.
Eighteen...
MTBPS gives no concrete commitment to address crisis in health
With elections looming in 2019, the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) was always going to be a case of “flattering to deceive” with no...
Has the SA Heart Foundation's stamp of approval become blurred?
The Heart and Stroke Foundation in SA continues to endorse foods shown to have questionable health benefits, writes the Sunday Times. Critics say it's...
Americans are exporting their obesity to SA — Health department director
The pandemic of obesity in South Africa is a result of our ‘Americanised’ food environment and the responsibility should be shifted from individuals to...
Mboweni must urgently 'puncture the fantasy NHI balloon'
One of the tasks confronting the new finance minister, Tito Mboweni, will be to puncture the balloon of fantasy surrounding the national health insurance...
Ketamine clinic boom in US triggers concerns over 'quick buck' training
As ketamine clinics pop up across the US to offer experimental infusions for depression, anxiety, and a slew of other conditions, training programmes to...
Four elite SA athletes share their stories on depression
It seems like such a glamorous life. Travelling the world and representing your country, all global events and plush hotels. Elite athletes must have...
Xenophobia threatens SA's NHI plans
There are signs that the National Health Insurance (NHI) has the potential not only to be hijacked by commercial interest groups, but is tumbling down...
SA needs to debate the contentious issues of euthanasia
Euthanasia, with its etymology rooted in the Greek language, meaning "good death", is a contentious as well as paramount conversation that needs to be...
It's not just about the number of hospital beds…
SA Health Minister Dr Aaron Mostoaledi has cited overcrowding as a root cause of recent Klebsiella-related infant deaths. However, while the number of beds...
Researchers warn that smart pills may be a dumb solution
Enthusiasm for an emerging digital health tool, the smart pill, is on the rise but researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago caution...
Ketamine free-for-all sparks concern in US
Ketamine gives hope to patients with severe depression, reports a Stat News investigation. But usage in the US is booming, with clinics hyping its...
Medicine must address sexual harassment in the workplace
Scientific and medical institutions must fundamentally reconsider how they address sexual harassment in the workplace, three US leaders in gender equity in medicine argue....
Anger over crowdfunding to fight cholera in Zimbabwe
The revenue-strapped Zimbabwe government has launched a crowdfunding campaign to deal with an outbreak of cholera that has so far killed 30 people, angering...
Cochrane Collaboration in turmoil over expulsion of board member
A the expulsion of a board member of the Cochrane Collaboration, one of medicine's most respected bodies for its reviews of clinical research, has...
Anti-vax fears drive record measles outbreaks in Europe
World Health Organisation, figures show that measles cases in in Europe the first six months of 2018 exceeded the annual total for each of...
Tower Hospital: The evidence contradicts Health Ombud's conclusions
Despite an emphatic assurance by SA's Health Ombudsman that ‘no prima facie evidence of institutionalised systematic or deliberate violations of human rights by staff was...
Wider benefits of alcohol outweigh health benefits of teetotalism — a rebuttal
‘No safe level of alcohol’ screamed headlines last week. They were inspired by the publication of a massive study, part of the ‘Global Burden...
Govt control will make SA healthcare worse, not better
While it is not surprising that the SA Federation of Trade Unions has an issue with a private system of healthcare, it is incorrect...
A properly implemented NHI could help bring together a divided society
Whatever the current failures of the proposed National Health Insurance scheme, it has the potential "to move the country towards socio-economic equality by prioritising a...
How SA's 'collusive' private healthcare sector can be fixed
South Africa's private healthcare sector, dominated by a few players, allows non-competitive behaviour such as collusion and excessive pricing tends to thrive, writes Professor...
The Sugar Wars: Have the ill effects of sugar been overstated?
Have the ill effects of sugar been over-stated by scientists? Experts debate both sides in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases.
Over the past 50 years researchers,...
Proposed Bills are not the cure for the current health sector crisis
Will the proposed provisions and processes in the National Health Insurance Bill and the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill strengthen the public health system? Professor Lucy Gilson of...
SA 'needs divestiture' to free up the private healthcare market
The preliminary findings of the inquiry into South Africa’s private health care sector shows worrying trends, writes Phumudzo S Munyai, associate professor at the...
Tobacco industry finds unlikely allies in fight against regulation
In recent weeks, health experts and journalists have spoken out against the government’s proposed Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill. It's...
State medico-legal exposure: A need to move beyond platitudes
The National Health Insurance Bill fails to make any provision for medico-legal exposure in State facilities, beyond platitudes about quality health care, writes Donald...
Africa Check puts together the numbers on doctor-patient ratios
The fact-checking organisation Africa Check looks at doctor-patient ratios in both public and private healthcare, following criticism by the Treatment Action Campaign that the...
Amsterdam's famous tolerance delivers health benefits
Amsterdam’s tolerance of sex work and recreational drugs has translated into better health outcomes for its citizens. But, asks an Health-e News report, can...
Tougher anti-smoking laws in the pipeline for SA
When South Africa introduced designated smoking areas in restaurants and bars there was vehement opposition from sections of the hospitality industry. But, writes Savera Kalideen,...
UCT leader should apologise for aggravating student trauma
University of Cape Town Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng owes students an apology for aggravating the 'trauma' students experienced at the suicide of Professor Bongani Mayosi...
Mayosi's death a reminder that actions have consequences
Following the suicide of Professor Bonging Mayosi, South Africans cannot deny the oppositional tide unleashed against anyone who dared to speak critically about the...
Why SA must rein in the private healthcare industry
Criticisms that the Health Market Inquiry is an assault on the free market ignores the reality that there is no market in health care in South...