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Weekly Roundup
Vaccine nationalism a 'catastrophic moral failure' – WHO chief
The world is on the brink of "catastrophic moral failure" in sharing COVID-19 vaccines, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is quoted...
Columbia-Brenthurst report: Pandemic Response in Africa: Covid-19 in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa
Universal access to COVID-19 vaccines must remain a critical goal if we are to win the battle against the disease. However, write Dr Heinrich...
Durban private hospital nurses arrested following use of deceased COVID patient's bank card
Two Durban nurses have been arrested after the bank card of a deceased COVID-19 patient was used to make personal purchases, reports News24.
The men...
COVID-19 causes SA's heart transplant programmes to skip a beat
South Africa’s four heart transplant programmes face challenging times, after a year in which transplant numbers slumped dramatically, and with ongoing uncertainty about COVID-19...
Discovery estimates that funding COVID-19 vaccines could cost medical schemes R7bn
Discovery Health anticipates that it will cost an upper limit of R7bn for medical schemes to fund COVID-19 vaccines for 7.1m of their own...
Man stabbed 16 times in hospital emergency ward after road accident and dies 6 days later
A Johannesburg man was stabbed 16 times in Carletonville Hospital in an apparent road rage incident on 20 December. The Times reports he died...
Limpopo Health denies doctor's claims of lack of ICU beds
Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba has rubbished claims by a doctor at Mankweng Hospital that there are no ICU beds available at that...
Ipsos: Percentage of South Africans lacking faith in vaccines rises sharply
South Africa plans to vaccinate 67% of the population – some 38m citizens – against the coronavirus before the end of 2021. But, says...
India will honour commitment of vaccine for SA's healthcare workers
The Serum Institute of India (SII), which is a manufacturer of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, said on Tuesday (5 January 2020) that it...
SAMA contradicts KZN Health and warns over 'dire shortages' at hospitals
The SA Medical Association (SAMA) has bemoaned a “dire shortage” of medical staff, oxygen and personal protective equipment (PPE) in KwaZulu-Natal, contradicting the Health...
KZN Health investigating 6 deaths at rural hospital
The Kwa Zulu Natal Health Department has launched an urgent investigation following the deaths of six patients at St Andrew’s Hospital in Harding this...
WC Health crippled by COVID-19 related sick leave with 37,000 days lost
More than 37,000 days of COVID-19-related sick leave have been taken by healthcare workers in the Western Cape since March, reports News24.
Western Cape Health...
UK offers to provide COVID-19 vaccine for 3m 'most vulnerable' Zimbabweans
Britain has offered to vaccinate 20 percent of Zimbabwe’s population, the most vulnerable 3m people, against Covid-19 when the British vaccine is ready, reports...
SA Health system boosted 4,000 interns and community service practitioners
As South Africa’s health system strains under the weight of the second wave of Covid-19 infections, it will soon have a welcome boost in...
Discovery sets aside funding to provide COVID-19 vaccine to 2m members
Discovery Health says funding has been set aside for 2m of its members to get the vaccine as it throws its weight behind a...
SA’s 10th medical school open at Nelson Mandela University for 2021 applications
South Africa’s 10th medical school, located at Nelson Mandela University’s Missionvale Campus in Port Elizabeth, opens its doors in March 2021.
This was announced by...
2 ambulances intercepted and attacked by KZN mobs
Mob attacks on emergency medical services continued during the festive season.
The Witness reports that on Christmas day, two separate ambulance call-outs in the Lions...
Calls for improved security at psychiatric hospitals after patient stabbing
The official opposition and the nursing union have called on improved security at Limpopo psychiatric hospitals, following the stabbing to death of a patient,...
NHS England offers new blood test to avoid toxic side effects of chemotherapy
Certain cancer patients in England will be offered a new blood test that aims to tailor treatments to their genetics in a bid to...
Pfizer releases vaccine ingredient list: Take 30 mcg of modRNA and stir…
Experts say the ingredients in the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, which was authorised last week by the US.Food and...
SA's junior doctors experience another year of bungled placements
South Africa's Department of Health has again bungled its placement system for junior doctors, reports Maverick Citizen.
By the second week of December, there were...
MSF urges DoH to deploy medics to COVID-19 hotspots
Médecins Sans Frontières, which is running a COVID-19 ward in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape, has appealed to the government to strengthen...
China's vaccine is '86% effective and wins its first approval
The United Arab Emirates approved a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, citing preliminary data showing that it was 86% effective. The move, the first full approval...
Discovery Health introduces prepaid vouchers for GP consultations
Healthcare company Discovery Health is introducing a novel healthcare payment system with the launch of a R300 prepaid GP consultation voucher, joining two other...
Western Cape rejects lockdown in favour of targeted local interventions
The Western Cape will argue against a lockdown being imposed on the province and in favour of targeted, local interventions based on scientific evidence,...
US coronavirus adviser wants Covax financial support for vaccine to SA
White House coronavirus adviser Deborah Birx has called on the international Covid-19 vaccine financing vehicle, Covax, to consider expanding its financial support to upper-middle-income...
Dapivirine vaginal ring receives WHO prequalification for HIV prevention
Access to a long-acting vaginal ring, which was tested in SA, is a step closer after the World Health Organisation gave it the seal...
21 Nairobi to Dubai passengers detained over fake COVID-19 certificates
Nairobi airport officials have detained 21 passengers who were heading to Dubai with fake Covid-19 certificates, reports BBC News.
On another recent flight, from...
Procurement scandal is the 'ugly face' of Gauteng Health — Premier
Addressing the Gauteng legislature, Premier David Makhura “spoke bluntly” about the corruption pandemic in general, and the problems besetting Gauteng Health in particular, writes...
Sinopharm: A million vaccinations with no serious adverse reactions
Almost a million people have been given an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm as part of an emergency-use program authorised by Beijing, reports...
Australian anti-COVID nasal spray gets state funding for human testing
A new nasal spray with the potential to fight COVID-19 and other respiratory viral infections will be tested in the hopes of manufacturing it...
Netcare: R3.7bn revenue loss due to pandemic but 'steady recovery' predicted
The coronavirus pandemic put Netcare’s profits under pressure in its year to end-September, when total patient days declined almost a fifth, though it has...
Western Cape Health turns its attention to Garden Route hotspot
Western Cape Health is turning its attention to the Garden Route after a spike in Covid-19 infections in towns in the region has resulted...
Cuban anti-COVID drug cost R200m and used on only 1 patient
The Auditor-General is investigating the SA National Defence Force's import from Cuba of a "dubious and unregistered" Covid-19 drug, at a cost of more...
Cash-strapped medical schemes regulator spent R11.3m investigating race profiling
The cash-strapped Council for Medical Schemes, the medical schemes regulator in South Africa, spent R11.3m in unbudgeted funds on a high profile probe into...
Heart disease deaths soar in England during COVID pandemic
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, almost 5,000 more people in England have died from heart problems than would be expected, the British...
CDC confirms human-to-human transmission of Chapare virus in Bolivia
Researchers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have discovered human-to-human transmission of the rare Chapare virus in Bolivia belonging to a...
NHI will 'remove division' between state and private sector — Deputy Health Minister
Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla says the government's proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) "will go a long way" to prepare the country for future...
Porter suspended following North West hospital mortuary debacle
A porter alleged to have placed the body of a 60-year-old woman into a broken mortuary fridge drawer in a North West hospital has...
Fears for a 'new Esidimeni' crisis at KZN mental facility
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has launched an investigation into the state-funded Durban and Coastal Mental Health facility which is teetering on the edge of...