Medical Brief News Updates

Critical South African-led HIV research, the outcome of which could affect millions of people worldwide, has been stopped in its tracks at a vital point, thanks to the abrupt withdrawal of financial support from the United States. Lab technician Nozipho Mlotshwa was waiting in a Wits University lab for the… Read more »

Government has so far failed to respond to proposals by the Universal Healthcare Access Coalition (UHAC) for healthcare reform before the National Health Insurance (NHI) comes into effect. The UHAC has proposed a 'practical, evidence-based framework for what it sees as implementable healthcare reform. Its recommendations outline a raft of suggestions… Read more »

In a deal inked in Cairo last week and backed by a $1.2bn investment from Gavi, the vaccine alliance, an end-to-end mRNA vaccine production platform is to be constructed in Africa, with plans to manufacture 100m doses a year. A separate cross-continental partnership is expediting homegrown mRNA technology. The landmark agreements… Read more »

New challenges are looming for the WHO and its partners since the Trump administration’s orders have resulted in chaos and the collapse of USAID and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blackouts. Apart from the pulverising loss of financial aid and support, the agencies will now be hamstrung… Read more »

A seven-year-old Brakpan girl has died from multiple organ failure, allegedly linked to a packet of chips contaminated with a deadly insecticide that was tied to a spate of food poisonings and deaths among children last year. Azra Rahim (7) died within hours of eating the maize-based chips, with tests… Read more »

The Public Servants Association (PSA) wants the Public Protector and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to investigate a list of alleged health violations, including medicine, water and ambulance shortages, in KwaZulu-Natal. Regional PSA labour relations officer Roshan Lil-Ruthan told TimesLIVE they wanted probes into ongoing medicine shortages, the non-provision of… Read more »

The number of confirmed reports of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Durban schools has more than tripled in a week, with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health confirming 36 117 cases by Saturday. The first six cases were recorded among grades 1, 2 and 3 children at a school… Read more »

The shocking and dilapidated state of a rural Eastern Cape hospital that was built in 1900 led to angry locals protesting outside the facility last week, complaining that their reports of the crumbling, leaking building, staff shortages and general neglect, were being ignored. Paint peels from dirty and cracked concrete… Read more »

A “trusted” nurse accused of the rape and sexual assault of two teenagers will appear in the Nigel Magistrate’s Court tomorrow after his bail hearing was adjourned on Tuesday due to an unpaid electricity bill. Magistrate Rakesh Chitradow apologised to the accused – from Ekurhuleni – officials, and the public… Read more »

The US Food & Drug Administration says it continues to receive reports of tranexamic acid injection being erroneously administered intrathecally instead of the intended intrathecal (spinal) anaesthetic (e.g, bupivacaine injection) for neuraxial anaesthesia. These medication errors have resulted in severe outcomes, including death, disability, and prolonged hospitalisation, said the agency,… Read more »