Medical Brief News Updates

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has confirmed that paracetamol remains a safe and recommended option for treating pain and fever during pregnancy, and that no scientific evidence links it to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism. It added that it would continue to monitor emerging evidence on… Read more »

Despite Hangwani Morgan Maumela – the tender don of Tembisa Hospital – being paid R820m in two years through a network of front companies, and now under investigation for alleged procurement fraud, one of his proxy companies has bid for a lucrative North West Health Department catering tender. Although a… Read more »

Not much has changed in the private healthcare sector over the past half dozen years, and the absence of regulatory intervention, as well as ongoing market dominance – and a lack of competition – means a handful of private hospitals and medical scheme administrators are still raking in hefty profits.… Read more »

Medical schemes are to increase their premiums by up to four times the current inflation rate of 3.3% in January, reports News24, with Bonitas pushing its rates up by a weighted average of 8.8%, Medshield by 7.5% and Bestmed by 6.8%. Discovery Health Medical Scheme, however, is deferring the pain… Read more »

Nurses at Jeppestown Clinic in downtown Johannesburg have pleaded for more security, saying one unarmed security guard is inadequate at a facility where staff have, in the past, been held hostage by patients, been threatened by a knife-wielding drunk, and, more latterly, where “hitman” threats have been directed at one… Read more »

Frustrated and angry doctors said an electricity maintenance shutdown at Pretoria’s Steve Biko Academic Hospital at the weekend came without any warning, resulting in emergency services scrambling to get critically ill patients to nearby hospitals. Two floors housing critical services were evacuated so work could be done on failing electrical… Read more »

Angry and anxious residents say that only one ambulance is working in the Sundays River Valley Municipality in the Eastern Cape, with the Health Department confirming that four are being repaired “and one is too costly to repair”, putting 50 000 lives at risk, writes Thamsanqa Mbovane for GroundUp. One… Read more »

In a bid to slash its overwhelming backlog of cancer tests at its Johannesburg facility, the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) – which receives about 4 000 specimens a month – has approached the private sector for help, reports BusinessLIVE. The NHLS is considered the backbone of the public health system,… Read more »

South Africa’s resources are limited and the government had made a mistake in 1996 in granting services to everyone in the country – whether they were legal or not – according to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who said state departments should be reformed to “curb waste”. New24 reports that at… Read more »

National Treasury says it is planning to approach Parliament for a Special Appropriation Bill to bridge the funding shortfall in Health and the gap left by the withdrawal of US funding from the sector, reports BusinessLIVE. It said a copy of the Bill would be available on the National Treasury… Read more »