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Weekly Roundup
Chinese drug regulator officials sacked over rabies vaccine scandal
China has announced that it has sacked six senior officials at its food and drug regulator after a safety scandal at vaccine maker Changsheng...
SA Health Department confirms ARV shortages
While South Africa is struggling with the supply of both injectable and pill contraceptives, clinics have added antiretrovirals (ARVs) to the list of shortages....
GEMS pays out 91m claims amounting to R29.1bn in 2017
The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) paid out 91m claims for its 1.8m-strong membership base during 2017, amounting to a total value of more...
Suspicions grow of other Japanese medical schools excluding women
Several years ago, Riko Miyauchi’s dream of becoming a doctor took her into the exam halls of one of Japan’s most prestigious medical schools....
Managing the abuse of Tramadol as a recreational drug in Africa
Tramadol is increasingly being used as a recreational drug across Central Africa writes Agnes Ebo’o, regional co-ordinator Central Africa, ENACT project, Institute of Security Studies...
Merck's experimental Ebola vaccine used in Congo
Four new cases of Ebola virus have been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the health ministry said, as authorities prepare to deploy...
First British use of VEST technology in CAG patients
Vascular Graft Solutions has announced that John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, is the first centre in the UK to use its VEST technology to...
Denosa threatens 'pyjama strike' over unpaid nursing uniform allowances
Nurses uniforms may soon be replaced by less conventional outfits such as pyjamas and traditional regalia. City Press reports that this was the warning...
Only one SA province has developed a HIV and TB plan
Almost a year after South Africa tasked provinces with developing HIV and TB plans, a Bhekisisa report says only the Free State has a...
Durban fertility expert fathered at least 5 children he helped conceive
More than 40 years after his suicide, the shocking secret of pioneering Durban fertility expert Norman "Tony" Walker has emerged – he was himself...
Nigeria legislates to ban codeine in cough syrup
Nigeria has recalled 2.4m bottles of cough syrup containing codeine after national outrage earlier this year over endemic use of opioids. Reuters Africa reports...
WHO may promote bedaquiline after SA brokers deal with J&J
The World Health Organisation (WHO) could soon start promoting a new tuberculosis drug that is now more affordable after South Africa brokered a deal...
Junior doctors 'still being given the run-around' over registering
The national Health Department claims to have resolved the shambles with their online application system for community service doctors, but The Citizen reports, according...
HPCSA says it's working to stamp out internal corruption
Countering a wide range of allegations of corruption levelled at it by a whistle-blower, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said action...
Sasop campaign to expose abuse in SA's hospitals
In the aftermath of the Life Esidimeni tragedy in Gauteng and concerns raised about possible human rights violations at the Tower Hospital in the...
UCT releases video on new transorbital surgery technique
Transorbital surgery is complex and dangerous with long recovery periods and high risk of complications. Now a team of South African surgeons have developed...
Fentanyl-class over-prescription puts US patients at high risk
A fast-acting class of fentanyl drugs approved only for cancer patients with high opioid tolerance has been prescribed frequently to patients with back pain...
'Toxic feud' drives high surgical death rate at UK hospital
A “toxic” feud between two rival camps at a troubled heart surgery unit in the UK has left staff feeling that a high death...
Health activists march against Mahlangu and Hlongwa
Health activism group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) marched to the Gauteng Legislature on Tuesday morning to demand the removal of former health MECs and...
Massive drive to circumcise 4.3m SA men
South Africa is just over half-way through a massive effort by multiple stakeholders to circumcise 4.3m men which will avert 1.3m new HIV infections....
US policy could impact funding of hundreds of HIV organisations
Almost 1,000 HIV organisations across the globe are likely to be affected by massive funding cuts because of a controversial US policy that prohibits...
COPE to introduce living will Bill to Parliament
Congress of the People (COPE) MP Deidre Carter is planning to introduce a Bill to Parliament that will explicitly allow for living wills to...
First human trial on stem cell treatment for Parkinson's
Japanese researchers have announced the first human trial using a kind of stem cell to treat Parkinson's disease, building on earlier animal trials. According...
Best practice guidelines could slash stillbirths – UK review
An estimated 600 stillbirths annually in the UK could be prevented if maternity units adopt national best practice according to an independent evaluation.
Clinical improvements...
FDA approves drug for treatment of endometriosis pain
The US Food and Drug Administration has announced the approval of the commercial version of the drug elagolix for the treatment of endometriosis pain....
SA and Russia sign nuclear medicine agreement
The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) and Russian state-owned nuclear corporation, Rusatom, have signed a R1.4bn co-operative agreement to develop two small reactors...
SA's bold plan to breed malaria out of existence
A bold plan to breed malaria-carrying mosquitoes out of existence by releasing sterilised males is being hatched in a Johannesburg laboratory, says a Sunday...
Venezuelan oncologist in hiding after protesting over crumbling healthcare
Opposition lawmaker and oncologist José Manuel Olivares, who led protests over Venezuela’s crumbling health sector, says he has fled the crisis-stricken country after his...
Mahlangu's re-election shows zero accountability — SA Federation for Mental Health
By re-electing former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu to the ANC Gauteng’s provincial executive committee, the provincial government has shown no accountability for the...
Glossary of SA medical negligence and insurance terms released
Natmed Medical Defence has released the first edition of their glossary of medical negligence and insurance terms. This plain language glossary and guide, the...
Gauteng hospital investigating broken needle in upper arm incident
The Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg‚ east of Johannesburg‚ is trying to establish how a broken needle was found lodged in the upper arm...
New Ebola virus found in Sierra Leone bats
A new Ebola virus has been found in bats in Sierra Leone, two years after the end of an outbreak that killed over 11,000...
Vaccinations and quick response helps contain DRC Ebola outbreak
Democratic Republic of Congo's latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus is over, the health ministry has announced, after a 42-day observation period with...
Anger in China over faulty vaccine scandal
Chinese parents are in an uproar after reports that hundreds of thousands of children might have been injected with faulty vaccines, the latest scandal...
KZN nurses march on legislature against bad working conditions
“We are nurses not slaves,” said disgruntled nurse Bongekile Khomo. “I have to take care of 60 patients in one ward. We work under...
Khayelitsha Hospital in crisis – TAC
Khayelitsha District Hospital is in the midst of a crisis‚ say picketing Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) members. Western Cape chair Vuyani Macotha is quoted...
Former president Bush's cardiologist fatally shot at Houston medical complex
A cardiologist who once treated the former US president George HW Bush has been fatally shot by another cyclist while riding through a Houston...
Public Health England reports alarming child obesity statistics
One child in every class in the final year of primary school is severely obese on average, an all-time high, The Guardian reports that...
Phillip Morris criticised for offering NHS staff smoke-free tobacco products
The world’s biggest cigarette company has come under fire for offering “smoke-free” tobacco products to staff at the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) staff...
DNA home testing gains traction in ageing Japan
DNA testing at home in Japan is starting to gain traction as more people age and seek answers about their risks for diseases, reports...