Medical Brief News Updates

Clinical trials testing the efficacy of the first locally manufactured oral cholera vaccine, developed by Biovac, were officially launched on Tuesday, reports TimesLIVE – which if successful, will make South Africa the first country on the continent to manufacture the vaccine entirely from start to finish. Co-ordinated by the South African… Read more »

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has expressed caution about proposals to phase out medical scheme tax credits to help fund National Health Insurance (NHI), saying that alternatives needed to be found if that were to happen. The Health Department has said scrapping the credits could start from next April, with high-income… Read more »

Gauteng Health has admitted it lacks the power to blacklist suppliers linked to the R2bn Tembisa Hospital scandal, who continue to do business with the department, reports The Star. This leaves South Africa’s procurement system wide open to exploitation by fly-by-night companies, said ActionSA MP Kgosi Letlape, who through formal… Read more »

Seven years after being struck off the roll, a corruption case involving a Durban couple, their co-accused, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) medical school, is back in court, reports Sunday Tribune. Appearing in the Regional Court last week were Varsha and her husband Hiteshkumar Bhatt, Preshni Hiramun, Muhammad Haniff,… Read more »

Operation Dudula will abide by a High Court ruling barring it from its xenophobic actions, and from denying access to public health facilities by undocumented migrants, but leader Zandile Dabula says the movement will appeal the ruling, and that public clinics and hospitals are overwhelmed by the influx of foreign… Read more »

The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has been accused of political interference after it found Tlaleng Mofokeng – the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health – guilty of unprofessional conduct for her social media posts criticising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The watchdog fined her R10 000… Read more »

A transgender prisoner, serving life at Johannesburg Correction Centre, has won the legal right for state-provided hormonal therapy. The Equality Court ruled that “adequate healthcare”, which must be provided to all prisoners in terms of law, now includes this treatment, writes Tania Broughton for GroundUp. Judge Denise Fisher wrote that… Read more »

Despite Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana having tabled a special appropriation Bill providing an extra, emergency R754.5m to the Health budget in the financial year, this is insufficient, and risks being used, instead, to settle provincial debts to suppliers, Parliament was told last week. Business Day reports that the bulk of… Read more »

Opponents have slammed a proposal by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA) to classify somatology and sports massage therapy as regulated health professions, while others say it will benefit public safety and accountability. Critics argue it overlooks industry realities, threatens small businesses, and may cause widespread job… Read more »

The Treasury has proposed alternatives to fight hunger and reduce malnutrition statistics in the Eastern Cape after the Human Rights Commission (HRC), two years ago, found that child malnutrition in the region should be declared a state of disaster and treated accordingly, reports Daily Maverick. Last week, while testifying under… Read more »