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Weekly Roundup
Fraud and corruption crippling Malawi's public health system
Millions of rand seeped out of Malawi’s public health system last year through fraud, payroll manipulation and unauthorised payments, a leaked report from the...
Frustrated by delays, UK patients pay for private treatment
Growing numbers of patients in the UK are paying for private treatment to beat rationing and delays for treatment imposed by the cash-strapped National...
No-hope' UK stroke patient rehabilitated in SA
A stroke patient who was warned she had ‘no capacity for recovery’ by UK National Health Service (NHS) doctors is almost back to full...
State's medical malpractice exposure is 'untenable'
The SA government's medical malpractice contingency exposure has reached R60bn and this 'untenable' situation is impacting private practice, said the CEO of medical risk insurer...
HPCSA helps police to bust bogus doctor
The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) teamed up with the Medicines Control Council and the SA Police Service to out a bogus doctor who...
DoH official arrested for alleged bursary fraud
A Department of Health official from Kimberly has been arrested by the Hawks for alleged bursary fraud.
According to a News24 report, Hawks spokesperson, Captain...
UK woman one of the youngest cases of dementia to be diagnosed
Her family describe her as a 'blonde bombshell' who 'lit up a room', but 32-year-old Becky Barletta has been left battling a rare case...
HIV rates and deaths increasing in African adolescents
Adolescents is the only age group where HIV rates are increasing faster in Africa. The Citizen reports that, according to medical experts, ahead of...
TAC steps up fight against HIV/Aids
The Treatment Action Campaign accused politicians for turning their backs on HIV and TB at its recent 6th National Congress, reports Health-e News.
The congress...
Kimberly Hospital launches upgraded milk bank facility
The newly upgraded milk bank facility at Kimberly Hospital has been launched.
The upgrade was made possible by the South African Breastmilk Reserve (SABR) in...
Paramedics and police escort ambushed in Cape Town
A suspected robber was shot dead and a police officer wounded when he and his colleague were ambushed by five armed suspects while escorting...
KZN's cancer crisis increases demand for palliative care
As KwaZulu-Natal scrambles to recruit oncology specialists, treatment waiting lists grow and so too does the demand for specialised care for the sick and...
Opportunities for private sector under NHI – Afrocentric CEO
The private healthcare industry has the expertise and capacity to help the government improve public health under National Health Insurance (NHI). Business Day reports...
Sheriff seizes furniture and equipment to pay Gauteng Health debt
Gauteng Health is going through financial difficulties so it should not come as a surprise that the sheriff has visited the offices of the...
More resources needed to reduce Bara newborn deaths – DA
More resources are needed to reduce the number of newborn deaths at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto‚ where about 1‚900 babies are delivered...
Former Free State Health employee arrested
The Hawks have arrested a former Free State Health employee for 194 charges of fraud‚ money laundering‚ forgery and uttering, reports The Times. The...
Gauteng EMS workers threaten to strike
Gauteng Emergency Services workers have warned of a total shutdown next month if Premier David Makhura and Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa do not respond...
Australian disgust over advice given to faulty pelvic mesh implant patients
Australian victims of faulty pelvic mesh implants have expressed disgust at doctors’ suggestions of anal intercourse as a solution to their ruined sex lives....
Exacting standards to be dropped to alleviate GP shortage in UK
Plans to make it easier for failing trainee doctors and overseas medics to become family doctors are being drawn up by UK health officials,...
Patient racism rife in US – Asian-American doctor
An Asian-American physician who sparked debate when she revealed some white patients in Oregon had refused to be treated by her because of her...
HIV testing, counselling and treatment to be compulsory in Zambia
HIV testing, counselling and treatment has been made compulsory in Zambia in all government-run health facilities, Africa CGTN reports President Edgar Lungu announced. He...
Scope of the Naphisa Bill should be widened – NIOH
The head of the National Institutes of Occupational Health (NIOH) has urged legislators to widen the scope of the draft National Public Health Institute...
BevSA dismisses reports on sugar tax agreement
The Beverage Association of SA (BevSA) has dismissed reports that there was an agreement on the Health Promotion Levy at the National Economic Development...
Robotic surgical system introduced at Eastern Cape hospital
The da Vinci Si robotic surgical system has been introduced in the Eastern Cape, at Netcare Greenacres Hospital in Port Elizabeth.
“Netcare’s launch of the...
Staff shortages impact on lives of mothers and babies in UK
Childbirth experts have warned that mothers’ and babies’ lives in Britain are being put at risk after a National Health Service (NHS) inquiry into...
Treatment programme powers ART uptake in Lesotho
A universal treatment programme has increased by 79% the average monthly number of people initiating HIV therapy at a group of relief sites in...
First four milk banks in Africa now operational
The first four Ncelisa human milk banks located at Netcare maternity units are now fully operational.
It follows an 18-month collaborative project by a group...
Initiative to provide unbiased data on nutritional impact of yoghurt
The SA Yoghurt in Nutrition Initiative launched the 1st Yoghurt Summit in South Africa in Johannesburg recently, with the mission of providing unbiased scientific...
Placement moratorium on students trained in India and China
Medical students who studied in India and China have been dealt a major blow after a moratorium was placed on SA’s local universities, preventing...
NHLS managers resign but still face legal action
The National Health Laboratory Service’s (NHLS’s) head of procurement and its facility manager have resigned, but the state lab service is still taking legal...
Industry players warn on consolidation of small medical schemes plan
The Council for Medical Schemes' (CSM) plan to consolidate or dissolve small medical schemes poses huge risks to the people who belong to them...
Calling cannabis a gateway drug is 'a scare tactic'
The theory that cannabis is a gateway drug is nothing more than a scare tactic; if anything it may have protective properties, a Cape...
KZN boy first recipient in Africa of a mechanical heart
A five-year-old boy from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal has become the youngest patient on the African continent to undergo a lifesaving mechanical heart implantation.
Mnotho Mndebele,...
More effort needed to reach 2030 targets in fight against HIV/Aids – AU
Latest results released by UNAIDS show that Africa has made greater strides in the fight against Aids and is on track to achieve...
SALRC wants review of legislation administered by the DoH
Comment is sought by 30 September on a SA Law Reform Commission (SALRC) discussion document emerging from a review of all legislation administered by...
SAPS 'frustrate' DA attempt to charge Motsoaledi and Dhlomo
The Democratic Alliance has failed to lay charges of culpable homicide against provincial and national health department heads at the Point Police Station in...
DBE's policy on HIV, STIs and TB to address 'management challenge'
The SA Department of Basic Education’s national policy on HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and TB gazetted recently seeks to address the "significant management challenge"...
NHI set to close 29 medical schemes
The medical scheme regulator announced the potential closure of 29 small schemes, the rationalisation of scheme options and an accelerated alignment of benefits with...
Best chance for SA NHI is to partner with private sector – international experts
Countries with established national healthcare systems advise the South African government to partner with the private sector to ensure that the National Health Insurance...
Joint venture to establish e-drug prescribing platform for doctors
The South African government and the private sector have moved to establish an electronic prescribing platform that will make e-prescriptions easier for doctors.
Gavin Steel,...