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Thursday, 29 January, 2026

FOCUS: PUBLIC HEALTH

Suppliers’ business rescue threatens critical medicines supply

Venilla Yoganathan - 0
The supply of critical medicines, including the three-in-one anti-Aids drug taken by most HIV patients, and morphine, is under threat after suppliers were placed in business rescue, raising questions about due diligence over the contracts and reliance on single providers, notes MedicalBrief. Concerned MPs have resolved to ask Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to explain to Parliament how two companies that last year won a share of the lucrative contract to supply the three-in-one anti-Aids drug have entered business rescue, reports...
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NEWS UPDATE

Leave NHI challenges to the court and lawmakers, state says

The Department of Health has dug in its heels and told critics that, like it or not, the NHI Act is law, and there’s no space for “back door” settlements – despite Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s apparently conciliatory appeal recently for stakeholders to resolve their legal issues out of court. Responding to articles about Godongwana’s call, and most stakeholders’ rejection of this call, the department said that laws cannot be settled or renegotiated in this manner, Business Tech reports. Instead, it said, any changes to the NHI Act should follow the legislative process for amending laws, if necessary, or it must...

Thousands of KZN community health workers finally employed full-time

KwaZulu-Natal Health has permanently employed more than 5 000 community health workers (CHW), marking a triumph for the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) after its long legal struggle over what it slammed as exploitation of CHWs. Provincial Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said the move represents dignity, recognition and celebration for the workers, who continued serving communities even during periods of uncertainty about their futures, reports The Witness. The Labour Court had ruled in favour of the union in January last year, which was followed by a historic agreement reached in November 2025 between Nehawu and the National Department...

CMS rules on healthcare products branding in Dis-Chem dispute

Dis-Chem has defended its health insurance partnership with Centriq and Kaelo insurance products, saying a recent regulatory ruling should be seen as a clarification of process rather than a threat to retail-led healthcare models that are helping thousands of South Africans access affordable care. Last week Business Day reported that thousands of health insurance policyholders could be affected by the move related to Centriq Insurance Company and Dis-Chem Pharmacies after the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) ruled that the branding of certain products breached the Medical Schemes Act. The CMS found that changes to the branding and presentation of Centriq’s MyHealth...

SA experts call for warning labels on common, carcinogenic food products

Popular fast and processed foods consumed daily by South Africans are taking their toll on public health, with regulars like bacon, hot dogs and ham – long-time breakfast and sandwich staples in many households – contributing to numerous and potentially serious health problems. News24 reports that in a country with such high poverty levels, food decisions are often shaped by affordability, not nutrition, with studies showing that ultra-processed products account for about 40% of the daily calories consumed by low-income South African adults. At the same time, only a small fraction meet WHO recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake. Experts say this...

Health Department under barrage over jobless doctors

The Department of Health has come under fire from the Junior Doctors Committee of the South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu), which has expressed frustration over the continued unemployment of doctors who have completed their community service. Calling the long-standing situation unacceptable, the union has accused the department of failing to act while communities continue to face staff shortages in public healthcare facilities, reports AlgoaFM. A recent Samatu survey of 1 260 community service doctors found many have been unemployed for months – and in some cases years – despite an estimated 1 100 vacant medical doctor posts nationwide. It noted...

Mpondoland hospital patients battle for healthcare since 2025 floods

A year after floods devastated the already dilapidated Greenville Hospital in eastern Mpondoland, frustrated patients say infrastructure problems continue to restrict services after parts of the rundown facility were forced to shut down. They told Daily Dispatch that despite the water supply system having been repaired, and some improvements to the exterior of the building, conditions inside the hospital have remained largely unchanged since the February 2025 floods. Last May, after years of protests and complaints over the dire conditions at the hospital, the Eastern Cape Health Department began rolling out a multi-phased development project to turn it into a state-of-the-art...

Killer terbufos pesticide still being sold by vendors

Despite a ban on illegal sales, the highly toxic pesticide terbufos – commonly known as “halephirimi” (“the sun won’t set”), which has been linked to the deaths of more than 20 children – continues to be sold openly for as little as R10 in Johannesburg. Street vendors are prohibited from selling the chemical, but it remains readily available for those looking for a deadly form of rodent control, reports IOL. In the CBD, a street vendor whose stall displays earrings, nail polish and various skin-lightening creams, also sells small packets of the lethal powder. “You just put some food inside a container...

Western Cape health system buckles under violent trauma cases

Gang violence-related injuries are crippling Western Cape emergency centres and trauma units, with nearly 27 000 patients being treated at public hospitals in just six months, according to provincial Health Oversight spokesperson Memory Booysen, MPP. She said 3 111 people were admitted for gunshot wounds and 23 711 for stabbing-related injuries between June and November 2025, which she told IOL was deeply alarming, and results in emergency centres and trauma units operating under relentless pressure. She warned that this was stretching healthcare workers and diverting critical resources away from other emergencies. “Crime prevention and law enforcement remain national competencies, and SAPS must...

US leaves WHO, leaving massive funding gap

The US has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organisation (WHO) – leaving the UN agency without one of its biggest donors, and without having paid its fees for 2024 and 2025, which has already caused huge job losses at the organisation, reports the BBC. The US owes more than $280m to the global health agency, according to the WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven’t finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic. The withdrawal will hurt the global response to...

Six countries lose WHO measles-free status

A rise in measles deaths – and a decline in the number of children having the MMR jab – has resulted in Britain, with five others, losing its status as a measles-free country, reports The Guardian. Other countries in Europe and central Asia that the WHO says are no longer measles-free are Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The WHO had adjudged the UK to have eliminated the disease between 2021 and 2023, but recent increases in recorded cases – there were 3 681 in 2024 – and rises in the number of outbreaks and deaths, has led to a rethink. There...

Theranos founder Holmes asks Trump for early release

Elizabeth Holmes, the former Theranos founder who still has nearly six years left of her 11-year prison sentence, has asked US President Donald Trump to release her early. France24 reports that her request follows her 2022 conviction on wire fraud and conspiracy charges, and comes after a federal appeals court upheld her sentence last year. The request by the founder of the now-defunct blood-testing startup sought to commute her 11¼-year sentence last year, and her request remains pending, according to the US Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. Now 41, Holmes was convicted in 2022 on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy for...

Smuggled birth control pills from Zimbabwe sold in SA

Cross-border trade in illicit medication is thriving, with consignments of Zimbabwean contraceptive pills regularly entering South Africa and being snapped up, not just by migrant women but also local women, who say they prefer them. Plus, they are cheaper, obtainable in South Africa via social media platforms like Facebook Marketplace for as little as R10 to R20 a packet, reports Mail & Guardian. In Johannesburg, migrant women say they use the smuggled birth control pills because they have no other local options, citing not just language barriers but the barring of undocumented foreign nationals from accessing services at public health centres...

Suspected arsonist arrested after Paarl Hospital fire

A man has been arrested and will appear in court today in connection with a suspected arson attack that forced the full evacuation of Paarl Hospital on Tuesday, reports IOL. Western Cape police confirmed the 35-year-old was arrested shortly after the blaze, which broke out at around 11am on Tuesday, was contained. Initial indications were that a vehicle parked next to the building had caught alight, with the flames spreading to the hospital structure, though this will now form part of the police investigation. Smoke necessitated a full evacuation of the facility as a precautionary measure, with patients being safely moved, and...

MEDICO-LEGAL

IVF clinic sued after woman has someone else’s baby

A woman is suing a fertility clinic in Florida, United States, after she gave birth to a baby that wasn’t genetically hers, reports MSN. According to documents obtained by Nexstar’s WFLA, the couple, identified as John and Jane Doe, began working with the Fertility Centre of Orlando in March 2025, pursuing IVF treatment. An embryo believed to be resulting from the fertilisation of the woman’s eggs with her husband’s sperm was implanted in her uterus. She carried the baby to term, giving birth in December to a healthy baby girl, who was identified in the lawsuit as Baby Doe. However, the parents,...

Expert testimony allowed in J&J talc cancer case

Johnson & Johnson was hit with a court decision last week that could negatively affect its defence of lawsuits from plaintiffs alleging its baby powder caused their ovarian cancer, reports Fierce Pharma. In a legal blow for the company, a New Jersey court-appointed special master recommended that plaintiffs should be able to present testimony from expert witnesses who can speak to scientific evidence backing their claims. The recommendation, which came from retired US District Judge Freda Wolfson, applies to roughly 67 500 lawsuits that have been consolidated in New Jersey and allows them to go forward, according to Reuters. Wolfson, who managed...

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

Hidden mpox exposure found in healthy Nigerians – Cambridge study

The mpox virus appears to be circulating silently in parts of Nigeria, in many cases without the symptoms typically associated with the disease, according to research led by scientists...

SEXUAL MEDICINE

Young men targeted for unnecessary testosterone tests – Danish study

Despite screening for low testosterone being medically unwarranted in most young men, this category is being aggressively targeted online by “influencers” and wellness companies promoting hormone tests and treatments...

NEUROLOGY

Alzheimer’s risk may be driven by a single gene – London study

British researchers say their recent study showed the APOE gene was the major link to most cases of Alzheimer’s disease across four cohorts, and that its contribution to disease...

Danish study links obesity to dementia risk

Obesity in midlife may cause vascular dementia later in life by raising blood pressure over decades and damaging brain vessels, according to research from a team of Danish scientists. The danger...

GERONTOLOGY

Shingles vaccine may slow biological ageing – US study

Apart from its prime benefit in protecting against a painful viral illness, the shingles (herpes zoster) vaccine may help slow biological ageing in older adults, according to a recent...

ABOUT US

MedicalBrief is Africa’s authoritative weekly digest of medical matters, both on the continent and around the world. It brings you a succinct summary of the latest developments, both in news and research, with links to the original material. Contact us: info@medicalbrief.co.za

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