HomeWeekly Roundup
Weekly Roundup
Aspen sells European thrombosis business to Mylan
Aspen Pharmacare has agreed to sell the rights to its European thrombosis business to US pharmaceutical company Mylan for almost €642m (R12.82bn), reports Business...
EC Health D-G resigns: 'Quick to admit failures, slow to fix'
Lauded by some for bringing stability to the department and slated by his critics for leaving it behind in tatters, Daily Maverick reports one...
Mkhize releases MAC's scientific advisories on pandemic management
In a sharp departure from his position last month, on Thursday (27 August), Health Minister Zweli Mkhize released a tranche of the scientific advisories...
MAC estimates SA's COVID-19 asymptomatic rates to be 50%-80%
The COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) estimated that the proportion of asymptomatic infected individuals in South Africa ranges between 50-80%, saying the reasons were...
Khayelitsha community health workers picket for COVID-19 danger pay and permanent jobs
About 50 community healthcare workers have protested outside the Khayelitsha Day Hospital, demanding adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 danger pay, reports Groundup....
SA is taking part in 3 international COVID-19 vaccine trials
South Africa, though the University of Cape Town, has joined global counterparts in the search for a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine through three international trials,...
COVID-19 corruption monies will be recovered – Presidency
Monies stolen from the state by unscrupulous companies and individuals by inflating the prices of personal protective equipment (PPE) will be recovered. Polity reports...
Report: A quarter of COVID-19 fatalities in England and Wales have dementia
People with dementia accounted for a quarter of all COVID-related deaths in England and Wales, and three-quarters of all deaths in care facilities globally,...
Life Healthcare sees an increase in occupancy
Private hospital group Life Healthcare said it had seen an increase in occupancy as lockdown restrictions eased, reports Business Day. Hospital occupancy in Southern...
NHS pays for 'soup-and-shakes' to tackle UK's type 2 diabetes problem
Thousands of people will be offered a soup-and-shakes weight-loss plan on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to tackle the rise of type 2...
Western Cape Health's telemedicine diabetic project 'saved lives'
At the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Western Cape, a project was implemented that saved lives and has the potential to save...
SA Medical Research Council: Excess death numbers continue to drop
After watching the number of excess deaths decline for the fourth successive week, The Times reports that SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) experts say...
BBC: 'Many may have died' of hypothermia in SA's COVID treatment tents
Suspected COVID-19 patients were routinely left for hours in an open tent, in sub-zero temperatures, outside a South African hospital during the mid-winter peak...
COVID-19 antibody tests are now legal in SA and regulator approves several
The National Health Department has announced that antibody testing is now legal in South Africa and the regulator has approved several tests for use.
Polity...
Some SA hospitals to allow family visits at end of life stage
Patients with COVID-19, who are considered to be at “end of life stages”, may be allowed restricted visits by loved ones, News24 reports according...
Karim: Second wave waiting and guard must not be let down
Professor Salim Abdool Karim has warned that the current decline in the daily number of COVID-19 infections was not an indication that the worst...
Independent body declares Africa free from wild polio
Africa has been declared free from wild polio by the independent body, the Africa Regional Certification Commission, reports BBC News. Twenty-five years ago thousands...
First confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection reported in Hong Kong
Researchers in Hong Kong haVE reported what appears to be the first confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection, a 33-year-old man who was first infected...
Elective surgery resumes at many SA hospitals subject to testing
Netcare has resumed elective surgery at all its hospitals, while Western Cape public hospitals are on the verge of doing so, subject to pre-surgery...
Gauteng Health moves to fast-track disciplinary cases
Acting Gauteng Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo has directed the province's health department to compile a full report on all long-outstanding disciplinary cases, immediately commence...
Diabetes and hypertension most common comorbidities in Gauteng COVID-19 deaths
Data published by Gauteng’s provincial command council has showed that diabetes and hypertension remained the most common comorbidities among those who were recorded as...
Government inaction puts Eastern Cape children's lives at risk
Close to 60 children at Port Elizabeth’s Dora Nginza Hospital, some critically ill, have been waiting for a medical procedure for almost two years...
Public Protector scathing over Gauteng's pandemic preparations
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who is visiting Gauteng hospitals, has lashed out at the government for dragging its feet in preparing facilities to fight...
41 overseas-trained interns joinSA healthcare workforce
Forty-one medical interns who studied abroad have passed their exams and are being sent to various provinces in South Africa. Engineering News reports that...
Mkhize: Cuban medics a 'great help' in fight against COVID-19
The 187 Cuban medical personnel who arrived in the country in April have been of great help in South Africa’s fight against COVID-19. The...
UCT investigates claims of racism at Groote Schuur Hospital
The University of Cape Town (UCT) is investigations allegations of racism involving spinal surgeon Professor Robert Dunn in the orthopaedic department at Groote Schuur Hospital.
According...
Kenya's doctors strike over delayed salaries and lack of PPE
Doctors in most public hospitals in Kenya's capital went on strike on Friday of last week (21 August) to protest against delayed salaries and...
Occupational health: Close to 1,400 COVID-19 clusters in EU workplaces
There were 1,376 clusters of COVID-19 cases in workplace or occupational settings in Europe and the UK between March and early July, a report...
Wits launches second COVID-19 vaccine trial
The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has launched its second COVID-19 vaccine trial, testing an experimental shot made by US biotech company Novavax, reports...
Public Protector to inspect Gauteng hospitals
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and her deputy Kholeka Gcaleka will inspect Gauteng hospitals this week, notes a News24 report. Mkhwebane and Gcaleka were scheduled...
COVID-19 disrupted supply of ARVs 'particularly troubling' in SA
Across South Africa and around the world, the pandemic has disrupted the supply of antiretroviral drugs, endangering the lives of many of the more...
SA data shows excess and COVID-19 deaths declining
Data released on Wednesday (12 August) by the South African Medical Research Council’s (SAMRC) Burden of Disease Research Unit, suggests that parts of the...
Another HPCSA setback for foreign-trained SA doctors
New regulations from the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) would leave internationally-trained South African doctors unable to practise here until they had completed a...
American Gene Technologies HIV 'cure' claims are 'unjustified hype'
Journalists received not one but three announcements this week from American Gene Technologies (AGT) touting the “most promising potential cure for HIV in the...
Mkhize: Cuban doctors' assistance another 'seminal moment' in relationship
The arrival of the Cuban medical brigade in the country to assist in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic had marked another seminal moment between...
COVID-19's impact on SA healthcare workers: 230 dead
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 27,000 healthcare workers have tested positive for the virus with a death toll of 230 in...
Kenya's private sector vows to combat COVID-related graft
The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has vowed to play its part in combating graft, amid rising public concern about alleged corruption surrounding the...
WHO: Africa making progress in curbing spread of COVID-19
Six months after COVID-19 was detected in Africa, countries have made a lot of progress to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Polity...
Experts downplay concerns over COVID-19 transmission on frozen food
A sample of frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil has tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, reports...
Seven African countries to start administering coronavirus antibody tests
Seven African countries will start administering coronavirus antibody tests from this week, Polity reports a regional body said, as part of efforts to understand...