Juta MedicalBrief

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has done an about-turn on its funding ban on South African research projects, opening the door for local scientists to apply for its grants once more – but with the lifeline being accompanied by the news that another source of financial support will unexpectedly dry up, reports Business Day. South African researchers, historically the biggest recipients of NIH grants awarded outside the US, were devastated last year when President Donald Trump signed an order halting all foreign aid and assistance to this country. Research units had to dump some projects and retrench staff...

Ten months after an enabling court judgment, some specially trained South African pharmacists can finally start applying for permits allowing them to dispense ARVs without a doctor’s script, writes Catherine Tomlinson for Spotlight. The long-awaited permitting process was announced to pharmacists in a South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) e-Note on 13 August, 10 months after the Supreme Court of Appeal cleared the way for the implementation of pharmacist-initiated management of antiretroviral treatment (PIMART) in South Africa. What is PIMART? PIMART is a form of task-shifting allowing pharmacists to provide some limited HIV services that are currently only provided by doctors and nurses. Under...

A horrific blaze in an Islamabad maternity ward on Wednesday killed 14 babies – while their desperate parents say they waited hours for help to arrive, reports the BBC. Hivsa Walid, who was near the ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital with her sister-in-law, who had given birth days earlier, said she had heard a shout and then she saw smoke. She said they immediately fled with the baby. “We didn’t even think about our belongings. We just grabbed the baby and rushed downstairs. “Some patients had delivered their babies just that night. I don’t even know how...

Stan Moloabi, principal officer of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS), has been put on precautionary suspension, pending “the completion of an internal administrative process”, with COO Vuyo Gqola being appointed as acting principal officer in the meantime, reports TimesLIVE. The GEMS board on Tuesday said the suspension was not related to the scheme’s financial position, reserves or solvency, nor was it related to any stakeholder or union demands. The scheme has been under continue pressure from unions after the scale of its contribution hikes, initially set at a weighted average of 9.8% but lowered to 9.5%, effective from 1 April. In...

This past Sunday marked five years since the assassination of Gauteng Health whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, who had first exposed the trail of suspicious payments at Tembisa Hospital and which led to the subsequent discovery of a vast and tangled web of corruption, reports EWN. Six men pleaded guilty to the murder and in August 2023, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 22 years, totalling a combined 95 years behind bars. Days before being ambushed outside her home, Deokaran (53) had alerted her seniors that her life was in danger, but she received no protection. She had just uncovered...

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has condemned a video on social media showing a nurse bullying a patient at King Dinuzulu Hospital, and placed her on precautionary suspension, reports the Sunday Tribune. The video, posted on X, shows the nurse standing beside a patient’s bed: she starts pointing and then physically shoving her finger in the patient’s face. The two exchange words before the nurse moves off to another patient. The Health Department said it has noted with serious concern the footage and that it “unequivocally condemns this behaviour in the strongest possible terms”. “The conduct … is completely unacceptable, violates the...

After a major meeting last week with various pharmaceutical bodies, including the Pharmaceutical Task Group (PTG), the government has committed to considering an “extraordinary” single-exit price (SEP) hike to reflect the impact of “domestic and geopolitical pricing pressures” – among a raft of other positive indications, reports News24. The SEP is the maximum price a manufacturer can charge for a medicine, which the Health Department had pegged at a maximum adjustment of no more than 1.47% for 2026, down from 5.25% the previous year. However, the Middle East conflict has been the catalyst for huge rises in fuel and logistics costs,...

Three men arrested for allegedly dealing illegally in controlled medication appeared in two separate courts in Nelson Mandela Bay last week after being nabbed by the Hawks and other law enforcement agencies, reports The Herald. Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana described the arrests as a breakthrough in the fight against the unlawful proliferation of scheduled pharmaceutical substances, drugs and cannabis, and said a probe into the case had started in September 2025. Two of the men appeared in the New Brighton Magistrate’s Court, where their case was postponed to 27 August for a potential bail application, while the third was...

Compulsory membership of the (expensive) parliamentary medical scheme, Parmed, is being reconsidered by the National Assembly, and may be replaced with voluntary membership, reports Moneyweb. An amendment to the Parliamentary and Provincial Medical Aid Scheme Act, 1975, would replace compulsory membership which, argues ActionSA MP Dr Kgosi Letlape – who introduced the private member’s Bill – would grant MPs and other elected office-bearers, including those in the National Council of Provinces, members of provincial legislatures as well as judges, “the right to join a medical aid scheme of their choice, or use public healthcare services”. A 2017 comparison report by Medscheme,...

Johannesburg’s Helen Joseph Hospital has initiated an investigation after a video posted on social media by a patient claimed the hospital is chaotic and that some patients had not been attended to for three days, and also distanced itself from a mini-crisis emerging at the trauma unit after an unofficial closure by the HoD, reports the Sowetan. The emergency department had posted a closure notice for the month of August, advising patients to seek treatment elsewhere. On the social media complaints, Gauteng Health spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department took allegations relating to the conduct of its employees seriously and did...

EMS workers and their union in the Eastern Cape say their ambulance fleet is so depleted that only a handful of vehicles is available to respond to emergencies on some shifts – with many of those lacking vital equipment – and that the system is close to collapse, reports Daily Maverick. The DA, meanwhile, has attributed the crisis to crucial funds being diverted to settle the eye-watering medico-legal costs and negligence cases against the Eastern Cape Department of Health. Although the department has said its ambulance fleet is operational, emergency services workers say that in fact, the supply of properly equipped...

A Cape Town NPO that provides palliative and hospice care to people with life-threatening illnesses is being urged by former staff and volunteers to reopen its inpatient unit that it closed in December 2024, reports GroundUp. St Luke’s, a much-respected institution, has been caring for many terminally ill and other critical patients since 1980, but there’s a debate over how best to provide its services. The disagreement is about the closing of its inpatient unit: with a budget of about R25m a year, mostly from donations, the organisation has shifted towards community and home-based palliative care instead. However, former staff and volunteers...

KwaZulu-Natal is investing R359m in upgrading Mosvold Hospital in uMkhanyakude as the province ramps up its efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure in rural communities, reports The Witness. On a visit to the public district hospital in the Lebombo mountains near eSwatini’s border, Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said work on the infrastructure programme was about 63% complete and should be finished within the next year. The project includes a 40-unit staff accommodation block for healthcare professionals, a 22-bed paediatric unit and a mothers’ lodge that will accommodate up to 18 women and their babies. The existing paediatric unit will also be converted into...

The brand new R625m Forest Hill Military Base Hospital in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, was officially opened last week, one of only four such facilities in the country dedicated to SANDF members, veterans and their families, reports AlgoaFM. What began as a modest sickbay had been transformed, over about 48 months, into a modern 30-bed military hospital, providing primary healthcare services, a 24-hour casualty and emergency care unit, a fully equipped surgical theatre, a state-of-the-art diagnostic radiology suite, dental services, a full-service pharmacy, a 72-hour admission medical and surgical ward, a paediatric ward, as well as ancillary health and rehabilitation services. Surgeon...

Health authorities in Cape Town said they are encouraged by the rise in cervical cancer screening tests at local health facilities, the figures having nearly doubled in the past year – from 14 581 in 2024/25 to 27 561 in 2025/26, reports IOL. The City has been urging eligible women to make use of the free screening and other preventative health services at its clinics, with Councillor Francine Higham, the mayoral committee member for community services and health, saying that cervical cancer remains a significant health concern in South Africa. She added, however, that it is largely preventable through HPV vaccination...

The FDA has approved dolutegravir (Tivicay PD; ViiV Healthcare) tablets for oral suspension for the treatment of HIV infection in newborns from birth to younger than four weeks – who weigh at least 2 kg – when used in combination with other antiretroviral agents. Previously, Tivicay and Tivicay PD were approved for adults and paediatric patients aged four weeks and older. The expanded indication moves dolutegravir treatment into the first weeks of life, a period in which age-appropriate antiretroviral options have historically been limited Data from the IMPAACT 2023 study and pharmacokinetic modelling data supported the application. In this study, 48 newborns exposed to...

Novo Nordisk is launching its first-of-its-kind weekly insulin dose for type 2 diabetes, offering greater convenience and less pain, but the downside of the injection is hypoglycaemia risks, reports The Washington Post. More than 36m people in the United States have type 2 diabetes, and roughly 22% of them – or about 8m – require daily insulin injections to control their blood glucose levels. Since last week, that gruelling regimen can now be reduced to just one shot a week, after Novo’s announcement that it is rolling out a weekly insulin injection called Awiqli. It is the first-of-its-kind weekly dose to reach...

France has finally, after years of debate, approved legislation granting incurably ill adults the right to assisted dying, with the text being approved by the country’s highest constitutional authority and published in the official journal, reports The Guardian. The law, known as a law on “end of life” or “aid in dying” rather than “assisted dying” or “euthanasia”, means France joins the small group of countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada, to have legalised the practise. Published last week, it gives the right to patients of legal age who are French nationals or long-term residents and suffering from conditions that...

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, on sick leave for a month – illness undisclosed – will be temporarily replaced by Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, who has been appointed in an acting position until 30 September, reports The Citizen. The appointment was announced last week, with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya saying Ndabeni-Abrahams would undertake all functions while Motsoaledi was off. Meanwhile, as campaigning remains in full swing before the local government election on 4 November, Ndabeni-Abrahams, who is also chairperson of the ANC’s local government intervention task team, told the media in Johannesburg that the deterioration of the country’s biggest metro...

The KZN College of Nursing has achieved a major milestone after receiving approval for its Bachelor of Nursing degree at NQF Level 8 from the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), reports The Witness. The approval, granted by SAQA’s NQF Qualifications Committee, means it can now offer a Bachelor of Nursing qualification at NQF Level 8, carrying a minimum of 480 credits. KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane described the achievement as a proud moment for the province’s nursing education system and a reflection of the good work being done by the college’s management and staff. The degree will help create a stronger academic...

The small West African country of Guinea-Bissau is facing its first-ever mpox outbreak, with children accounting for half of the 46 suspected cases, reports africanews. The United Nations children’s agency, Unicef, said that 23 of the cases are children under 15, of whom 16 are under four. No fatalities have yet been reported. "This is the first time mpox cases have been reported in Guinea-Bissau, making even a small outbreak a major public health event," said Unicef’s regional deputy representative, Sandra Martins. The agency said while mpox rarely leads to death, newborns and children are more at risk of developing severe cases...

Nigeria, which has a crippling shortage of mental health professionals – fewer than 1 000 psychiatrists serving more than 200m people – says it plans to decriminalise attempted suicides, and that instead of being treated as offenders, these people should rather be seen as people needing care. Africanews reports that mental health issues are largely stigmatised in the country, and currently, trying to take one’s life is punishable by up to one year in prison under the colonial-era Criminal Code, while the Penal Code provides for up to a year in jail, a fine, or both. But Health Minister Ali Pate...

More than 300 women are attempting to sue Bayer after it issued a recall on a batch of faulty contraceptive pills, linked to a packaging error in 2024, report EWN. The mix-up saw packs of the pill – Yaz Plus – being accidentally filled with hormone-free placebo pills, meaning women taking the affected batch may have had no contraceptive protection for almost a month. The women have now approached approached LHL Attorneys, who said the consequences could be significant for anyone who fell pregnant because of this. “It is quite a serious error because effectively it’s inverted the whole sequence that a...

The latest trial over the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona was suspended last week after claims that kidney test results presented to the court came from his father, reports France24. Seven healthcare workers are accused of criminal negligence over the care Maradona received before his death at 60 in November 2020, while he was recuperating from brain surgery. The first trial was dramatically annulled last year after two and a half months of hearings, and revelations that one of the judges overseeing it took part in a clandestine documentary about the case. A new trial began in April. It had...

Harvard University has been ordered to pay $53m to settle a class-action suit brought by families claiming an imprisoned former morgue manager at the institution mishandled the bodies of their loved ones – which had been donated to its medical school – and sold their body parts on the black market, reports New York Post. The settlement, approved last week, stems from the 2023 arrest of disgraced former Harvard Medical School’s morgue manager, Cedric Lodge. Lodge, who worked at Harvard’s morgue for nearly 30 years, was arrested in 2023 and ultimately sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling organs and...