HomeWeekly Roundup
Weekly Roundup
Test for cancer risk may reduce pre-emptive mastectomies
A genetic test that accurately predicts the risk of developing breast cancer could soon be used on high-risk groups in the UK, reports The...
Trillions will be spent on treating obesity-related diseases
The cost of treating ill health caused by obesity around the world will top $1.2tn every year from 2025 unless more is done to...
Conference to tackle 'apocalyptic' scale of antibiotic resistance
The problem of antibiotic resistance is to be the focus of a major international conference to be held in Berlin. The Guardian reports that...
CMS reports slight increase in med scheme membership
Just over 8.879m people subscribed to medical schemes at the end of December, 2016 and the schemes paid out R151bn to healthcare providers. The...
New licence agreement announced for bictegravir
Gilead Sciences, has announced a new licensing agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a UN-backed public health organisation, to expand access to bictegravir...
Limpopo doctor arrested on patient rape charge
A medical doctor has been arrested for allegedly raping his teenage patient near Tzaneen, Limpopo police are quoted in The Citizen as saying.
“It is...
Tzaneen mentally ill patient nearly sets hospital on fire
A mentally ill patient admitted to Letaba Hospital, at Nkowankowa near Tzaneen, almost set the hospital on fire by climbing into the ceiling and...
New KZN chronic care initiative for HIV positive patients
The number of people living with HIV who develop chronic conditions like cardiovascular and respiratory disease, cancer or diabetes is increasing. Kwa-Zulu Natal, which...
803 baby deaths at Charlotte Maxeke in three years
Some 803 babies have died out of 28 441 births at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH) in the past three years.
Jack Bloom, Democratic...
Merger between Netcare and Lakeview Hospitals blocked
The Competition Commission has prohibited a merger between JSE-listed Netcare and Lakeview Hospitals. Business Day reports that according to the commission, the tie-up lessens,...
Lack of suitable facilities keeps over 100 psychiatric patients in hospital
More than 100 psychiatric patients cannot be discharged from state hospitals because no suitable facilities can be found for them in Gauteng . The...
Shot fired by doctor in Ladysmith ambulance altercation
An altercation between a doctor – the owner of a private ambulance service – and a paramedic of another ambulance service resulted in a...
Gauteng Health team sent to sort out hospital's jobs-for-cash scheme
An intervention team has been dispatched to the Bheki Mlangeni District Hospital in Soweto‚ which has seen jobs being sold and a staff member...
Limpopo Health denies running short of HIV testing kits
At least 18 clinics and hospitals in Limpopo are without HIV testing kits as months-long shortages of the HIV diagnostics continue in the province,...
US researchers get into a Nobel Prize rhythm
Dr Jeffrey C Hall, Dr Michael Rosbash and Dr Michael W Young have been awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discoveries...
UK paramedics increasingly laid low by stress and anxiety
One in eight (12%) paramedics and ambulance healthcare assistants in the UK were off ill with stress or anxiety last year, forcing them to...
Cape Town introduces health screening for older people
The City of Cape Town’s Health Department is to launch health screening services for older people. “The introduction of the service is timely as...
UK investigation finds 'creeping NHS privatisation'
An investigation in the UK has exposed the extent of creeping National Health Service (NHS) privatisation, leaving experts warning that state patients risk being...
CDC releases latest HIV statistics
Since at least 2016, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released “Dear Colleague Letters” in support of HIV/Aids awareness days....
SA's medical aids rated in customer satisfaction index
The latest South African Consumer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) for the five benchmark medical aid schemes has been released.
Business Tech reports that now in its...
Soweto hospital hit by sex-for-jobs allegations
Some women employees claim they have been forced to sleep with a senior manager in a sex-for-jobs scandal that has rocked Soweto’s Bheki Mlangeni...
UK nursing's English language tests criticised as too stringent
UK English language test rules for overseas nurses and midwives could be relaxed after they were criticised for being too stringent. People Management reports...
Roche immunotherapy drug wins EU approval
Roche immunotherapy Tecentriq has won EU approval for treating advanced lung and bladder cancer, Reuters Health reports the Swiss drugmaker said. The European Commission...
Exposé of conditions at Jeppe Clinic sparks action
Revelations that Jeppe Clinic – closed down by the Gauteng Health Department in April for urgent renovations – may not be ready to re-open...
Precautionary ARVs after pupils injected with syringes
Pupils of a Kempton Park primary school have been put on antiretroviral drugs after a pupil injected class mates with syringes, reports The Times.
“The...
Gauteng Health plagued by poor management — Health MEC
Poor management is at the heart of the issues plaguing Gauteng Health. Business Day reports that this is according to its political head, health...
New coalition to improve the health of Africans
Nigeria’s Dangote Foundation and GBCHealth have joined forces to forge a partnership, African Business Coalition on Health in Africa, reports Business Report. Chair of Dangote...
University and college students can now access PrEP drug
For the first time, university and college students will be able to access the HIV prevention medication, Truvada. The Times reports that this was...
Outrage over no medical treatment for shot migrant worker in Taiwan
Footage apparently showing police and paramedics failing to give medical treatment to a Vietnamese migrant worker, who had been fatally shot by a police...
Zimbabwe's voluntary foot-soldiers against TB and HIV
Some 15,000 women health cadres across Zimbabwe have completed training in community health care (CHC) and have been equipped with health information to ensure...
EMA recommends approval of ovarian cancer drug
A European Medicines Agency (EMA) panel has recommended the approval of Tesaro Inc’s key drug, niraparib, for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer, reports...
EMA recommendation on lung drug
GlaxoSmithKline has announced that a European Medicines Agency (EMA) panel has recommended the company’s three-in-one inhaled lung drug, Advair. Reuters Health reports that GSK’s...
SA consumers hoaxed by pseudo-generics – Pharma Dynamics CEO
The proliferation of pseudo-generics - identical in all aspects to a branded product, but carrying a different name and at a lower cost - ultimately pushes...
SA anxious over Trump's planned health budget cuts
Potential cuts to foreign aid threaten the world’s chances of ending poverty and eradicating diseases by 2030, with particularly dire consequences for Africa’s HIV/...
UK to investigate misuse of pain and anxiety drug
A growing number of deaths in the UK have been linked to the misuse of pregabalin, a drug used to treat pain, anxiety and...
Proper funding could save thousands of potential stroke victims
A report published by the UK’s Stroke Association reveals that over 110,000 people could be saved from a stroke by 2035, if research into...
Telkom cuts services to Gauteng Health offices over non-payment
Telkom, the state-owned wireline and wireless telecommunications company, has confirmed it terminated services to the Gauteng Health provincial head offices situated in the Bank...
Attacks on emergency workers means people's lives at risk
The lives of those living in the most dangerous areas are at risk because it takes an average of two hours for paramedics to...
Dramatic increase in STIs in Gauteng
The number of sexually transmitted infections in Gauteng has increased by half a million over the last two years among young people. News24 reports...
Revised competency standards for pharmacists for comment
The SA Pharmacy Council has published revised competency standards for pharmacists, for public comment.
As the statutory body responsible for regulating the pharmacy profession in...