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Weekly Roundup
Durban hospital go-slow over having to carry patients up 6 floors
Staff at Addington Hospital in Durban embarked on a go-slow protest last week over all but two lifts being broken forcing staff to have...
Gauteng Health reviews security vetting process for top officials
The Gauteng Health Department is reviewing all security vetting processes for senior officials. According to an IoL report, this is amid concerns among opposition...
Japan to subsidise IVF costs to avert demographic crisis
Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has pledged to cover expensive fertility treatments with health insurance, but experts warn the change will do little...
Nigerian looters are targeting Covid-19 relief supplies
Looters are continuing to target state warehouses stocked with Covid-19 relief supplies across Nigeria. The authorities have denied allegations that they are hoarding the...
More meat factory outbreaks of COVID-19 globally raise concerns
Outbreaks of coronavirus have been reported at meat factories around the world, including at multiple sites in the UK. The Independent reports that in...
Twitter spat after Mboweni's 'apartheid hospital' remark about Tygerberg
Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo has accused Finance Minister Tito Mboweni of insulting healthcare workers by claiming that the province’s largest hospital, Tygerberg,...
Eastern Cape's track and trace teams face constant robbery risk
When the Eastern Cape Health Department's track and trace teams working in Nelson Mandela Bay get ready for work in the morning, they first...
Aspen reaches agreement to manufacture possible COVID-19 vaccine in SA
Drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare has reached a preliminary agreement with US giant Johnson & Johnson to manufacture a possible COVID-19 vaccine at its facility in...
Some medicine shortages affect Gauteng's hospital and clinics
Increased demand for COVID-19 treatment has contributed to Gauteng's hospitals and clinics running short on some medicines, reports The Times. The province's health department...
Gauteng Health to carry out antibody survey to determine COVID-19 spread
The Gauteng Health Department is to carry out an antibody survey to determine the rate of COVID-19 infections in the province, reports The Citizen....
North West Health acknowledges problems at Brits District Hospital
The delegation of the North West Health Department led by MEC Madoda Sambatha together with the administrator Jeanette Hunter, acting DDG for Health Services...
Wits develops unique 'control standard' for COVID-19 testing
Containing COVID-19 requires testing of individuals and isolating those who test positive, together with recent contacts, to prevent further spread and it is therefore...
Winde clashes with Mkhize over Western Cape's supposed 'resurgence'
What Health minister Zweli Mkhize as tagged as an alarming resurgence of COVID-19 infections in the Western Cape has been contradicted by the province's...
Ramaphosa dismisses rumours of a second hard lockdown
Government has dismissed “rumours” about the introduction of a second hard lockdown for the country, amid an apparent rise in coronavirus cases. Business Tech...
AnstraZeneca reports positive vaccine response in young and old adults
One of the world’s leading COVID-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in both young and old adults, raising hopes of a path out...
Russia applies for a WHO Emergency Use Listing for COVID-19 vaccine
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has submitted applications to the World Health Organisation for an Emergency Use Listing and prequalification of its coronavirus...
SA medical schemes: Claims plummet and a dangerous lack of cancer screening
This has been an exceptional year for medical schemes in that the COVID-19 pandemic led to many clients choosing not to have screening tests...
Western Cape to offer home self-screening for TB
After a huge decline in the number of people testing for tuberculosis during the lockdown, Western Cape Health authorities are now turning their attention...
Eastern Cape hospital takes 10 weeks to tell family of mother's death
The children of Nomsa Petshe are still reeling from the shock after hearing for the first time on Friday that their mother, who was...
WHO report: Strengthening Uganda health system’s response to violence against women
Researchers have described in a case study, the actions, successes, challenges and lessons learned over 5 years of concerted efforts undertaken by the Ministry...
SA pharmacy retailers compete with on-site COVID-19 antibody tests
Retail pharmacy company Clicks has started offering COVID-19 antibody tests at its clinics nationwide. The Times reports that the tests look for signs of...
Mediclinic rebounds after pandemic causes profits' drop in first-half
Private hospital operator Mediclinic reports that first half profits have fallen by about a third after COVID-19 weighed on elective patient numbers, although the...
SIU investigation into COVID-19 contract corruption hits R10.5bn
South African investigators are investigating R10.5bn of the government's coronavirus spending for corruption, more than double the amount they were investigating two months ago,...
Another alleged rape at a Gauteng psychiatric hospital
The Democratic Party’s Jack Bloom, shadow MEC for health in Gauteng, reports that a male psychiatric patent at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto has...
Lingering threat of second-wave keeps Nasrec field hospital open
The Gauteng Health Department says the Nasrec field hospital will remain open until January, as it closes the other three quarantine/isolation sites. The Times...
SA's COVID-19 state of disaster extended another month to mixed reactions
Minister of co-operative governance Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has extended the state of disaster to 15 November. It gives the government unchecked power to make...
WHO report: SA monthly TB notifications below 50%
South Africa is one of the countries that will pay a heavy price as a result of COVID-19, not only due to the economic...
Mkhize promises aggressive drive to restore community health services
Health minister Zweli Mkhize has promised an aggressive “catch-up” drive to restore community health services and persuade people to seek health care as the...
Erdogan wants legislation to curb Turkey's medical associations after criticism
President Tayyip Erdogan has urged Turkey's parliament to legislate to curb the influence of medical associations and other institutions that have criticised his government's...
Wits and UCT clinical trial on efficacy of MMR vaccine against COVID-19
Focus on frontline worker safety is being put in the spotlight in a new clinical trial, run by scientists from the University of the...
MSF hails SA's and India's 'landmark move' on COVID-19 drug patents
Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) has hailed South Africa's call to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to allow countries the choice not...
Two COVID-19 vaccine trials and a treatment study put on pause
Recent pauses to two large-scale COVID-19 vaccine trials and a treatment study should reassure people – not frighten them – vaccine experts said, though...
IPSOS Survey: High degree of vaccine hesitancy in SA
Adele Baleta, World Health Organisation vaccine safety communications advisor, and Internews pandemic advisor, writing in Spotlight says that a recent Ipsos survey has found...
One stillbirth every 16 seconds, according to first ever joint UN estimates
Almost 2m babies are stillborn every year – or 1 every 16 seconds – according to the first ever joint stillbirth estimates released by...
Cape Gate Hospital fire suspected to be arson
A fire that broke out at a Cape Town hospital has been declared a case of suspected arson, says a Cape Argus report. Firefighters...
UK's Royal Colleges: COVID-19 makes flu vaccination essential for the pregnant
All pregnant women in the UK have been urged by doctors to get a free flu vaccination this winter to ensure they and their...
Mkhize: Data collation explains weekly spike in COVID-19 deaths
The Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has acknowledged that the country has experienced a spike in COVID-19 related deaths, but has attributed this to...
Mozambique's problem with fake COVID-19 travel certificates
The health authority overseeing Maputo has launched an investigation into reports of an ongoing trade in negative COVID-19 documents. Mozambique and neighbouring South Africa...
Munshi murder: Follow the law, HPCSA head urges authorities
The gunning down of anaesthetist Dr Abdulhay Munshi, who was facing a charge of culpable homicide after a patient’s death, besides raising the spectre...
Experts to pick 'most promising' African herbal medicine products for COVID-19 phase 3 trials
The African Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine for COVID-19 will gather soon to pick the most promising herbal medicine products against the disease,...