HomeWeekly Roundup
Weekly Roundup
KZN Health 'saddened' by doctor's and nurse's deaths
KwaZulu-Natal Health said it was saddened by the deaths of a Cuban-trained doctor, as well as a trainee nurse who committed suicide, in separate...
Sugar tax could make SA a world leader in obesity prevention – WHO
South Africa could prevent almost half-a-million deaths over 40 years by introducing its proposed tax on sugary drinks, according to the World Health Organisation...
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention launched
Friday 31 January marked the launch of Africa’s continent-wide public health agency, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which will...
EC hospital to investigate patient 'suicide'
The Eastern Cape’s Livingstone Hospital management has started its own investigation into the death of Zanoxolo Mbeki, 29, who fell from a ward on...
New acting CEO and registrar for CMS
An acting CEO and registrar for theCouncil for Medical Schemes has been appointed by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi‚ followin the sudden death of the'...
PE nurses blame misfiled paperwork for maggot-infested wounds
Nurses at Port Elizabeth's Livingstone Hospital claim that misfiled paperwork stopped them from changing the dressings of a patient who then had maggots hatching...
Supply problems with Cisplatin forced SA Health to step in
The SA National Health Department is importing stock of the key cancer drug, Cisplatin, because its supplier has a 'problem' producing it. News24 reports that...
Botswana hospitals celebrate COHSASA accreditation awards
Two hospitals and three clinics, all in the Botswana public sector, have received sought after accreditation awards from the Council for Health Service Accreditation...
Healthcare system held together by inexperienced junior doctors
Medical graduates with one or two years of practical experience are holding South Africa’s public healthcare system together – but are falling apart themselves,...
Durban surgeons on go-slow over malfunctioning air conditioning
Surgeons at Durban's Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital are on a 'go-slow', creating a backlog in surgeries due to the air-conditioning systems being down for the...
Jubilee Hospital high on serious adverse events list
The 551-bed Jubilee District Hospital, north of Pretoria, has listed high on Gauteng’s dangerous hospitals list, with almost as many serious adverse events (SAEs) resulting...
FDA warns against toxic homeopathic teething product
The US Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers against using certain homeopathic teething products, saying it has found high amounts of a toxic...
Demand for cosmetic surgery continues to grow
Global demand for cosmetic surgery is showing no sign of abating, with a boom in Asia as the procedures become more affordable and less...
US doctors overwhelmingly opposed to repealing Obamacare
A survey of doctors shows overwhelming opposition to the effort by President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act...
Major insurers shrug off hospital cash plan regulations
Clientele and Hollard, two major insurers that offer hospital cash plans, have indicated they will not be adversely affected by the Treasury’s new healthcare...
Patient evicted from UK hospital after two-year stay
A patient who was evicted under court order from a UK hospital under a court order after spending more than two years in a...
Little hope that Kenya's doctors' strike will end soon
Salary demands by Kenya's striking doctors can only be implemented if they are removed from the civil servants’ category, dashing hopes of an end...
State should pay medical bills of attacked EMS workers – Hospersa
The Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa) wants government pay for the treatment of ambulance staff who have survived attacks...
SA on high alert following Zimbabwe typhoid outbreak
South Africa remains on high alert following the recent outbreak of highly infectious typhoid in neighbouring Zimbabwe, reports News24. But the National Institute for...
Respiratory doctors urge Trump to lead on climate change
If the new US president wants to keep his promise to ‘make America great again,’ then he should follow the example of the late...
FSA campaign on the carcinogenic dangers of overcooked starch
The UK’s Food Standards Agency has launched a campaign to help people understand how to minimise exposure to a possible carcinogen when cooking starchy...
Canada plans cigarette-style warning stickers for painkillers
As deaths from powerful painkillers continue to rise, Canada is pursuing unprecedented measures to curb their use, including requiring cigarette-style warning stickers on every...
Intervention to help tell children that they have HIV
An intervention to help parents and caregivers to find developmentally appropriate ways to tell a child that it has HIV, has been developed in...
US Republican governors want continued health funding
US Republican governors have urged Washington lawmakers to keep funding health benefits for millions of low-income Americans, reports Reuters Health, even as Congress is...
Zimbabwe appeals for funds to battle typhoid outbreak
The Zimbabwean government has appealed to the public and churches for funding as the country battles to contain a typhoid outbreak in Harare.
The Times...
Superbug resistant to every antibiotic in US kills woman
A woman in Nevada has been killed by a superbug that proved resistant to every antibiotic available in the US.
The Daily Telegraph reports that...
Cancer surgery falls foul of UK's NHS crisis
Patients with cancer are having their operations cancelled by hospitals with increasing regularity as the UK’s National Health Service winter crisis deepens.
The Guardian reports...
HIV testing kit now available in SA pharmacies
For R59.95 South Africans can now purchase an HIV testing kit from a local pharmacy and screen themselves for infection in the privacy of...
Gilead gives $22m to finding an HIV cure
Pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences has awarded a total of over $22m in grants to 12 projects focused on finding a cure for HIV, according...
UK health ombud 'not fit for purpose' – report
Patients complaining about poor care in the UK's National Health Service are made to feel like time wasters by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman which...
Confusion continues over SA Health's overtime policy
South Africa’s National Health Department could find itself in a crisis if all stakeholders do not reach an understanding on government’s proposed implementation of...
At least 90 attacks on paramedics. Two led to arrests
The authorities have been urged to act in the light of 90 attacks on paramedics, of which only two have led to arrests.
Amira Ajam,...
KZN Health cancer treatment has 'all but ground to a halt'
Cancer treatment in KwaZulu-Natal Health facilities has all but ground to a halt as a result of a severe shortage of staff, numerous resignations, and equipment...
Sick note fraud under investigation by HPCSA
An inspectorate of the Health Professions Council of SA is investigating about 50 doctors for issuing allegedly bogus sick notes.
Do you have a "severe...
SA dentists struggle to cover practice overheads
Dental cover continues to be eroded despite medical aid premium increases that are well over inflation‚ the South African Dental Association (SADA) says. The...
GEMS review uncovers fraud involving millions of rands
The Government Employees Medical Scheme has uncovered suspected fraud‚ waste and abuse practices amounting to several millions of rand on the part of a number...
Another discharged psychiatric patient dies
SA’s Health Ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba has confirmed claims by the DA that a psychiatric patient who was transferred to an NGO in Gauteng has...
'No humanitarian crisis at UK hospitals' – NHS
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has disputed claims from the Red Cross that there is a "humanitarian crisis" in its hospitals in England.
BBC...
UK gives three-parent fertility treatments the green light
Britain is set to become the first country in the world to legally offer 'three-parent baby’ fertility treatments after regulators gave the green light,...
Adolescent use of e-cigarettes triples in the US
The US Surgeon General recently issued a report that adolescents' use of electronic cigarettes has more than tripled since 2011.
As recently as 2010, e-cigarettes...