Cancer services take strain in Gauteng
Health-e News | 15 May 2012
Cancer services in Gauteng are facing an emergency with regular reports of broken equipment, drug stock outs, long waiting lists for treatment and delayed diagnosis.
Health-e was given dispensary order forms from Charlotte Maxeke hospital revealing among others that the academic hospital’s oncology in-patient ward 594 was unable to dispense half of the non-chemotherapy drugs and items ordered by the ward due to stock outs.
Campaigning for Cancer (C4C) is now threatening...
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Minister checks on preparations for NHI rollout
The New Age | 14 May 2012
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has completed a three-day visit to the National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot project in Pixley ka-Seme district, where he met stakeholders and checked preparations for the rollout of NHI in the area.
He was accompanied by health MEC Mxolisi Sokatsha. Provincial health spokesperson Andrid Scholtz confirmed Motsoaledi's visit was to assess the "progress made so far".
"He was evaluating the readiness of facilities and challenges being faced...
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ARV supplies run low across SA
HIV activists and health workers are demanding an inquiry into shortages of critical antiretrovirals (ARVs) that are central to the government’s treatment programme.
The shortages endanger the lives of the patients who have been placed on regimens containing these drugs, they said.
On Sunday Dr Anban Pillay, the deputy director-general for health regulation and compliance, confirmed there were shortages of tenofovir (TDF) in Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga because of...
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Patents vs Access to drugs
Health-e News | 14 May 2012
Lifesaving drugs under disputed patents could become more easily available in future depending on the outcome of a case before the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
The case revolves around a Sanofi-Aventis cancer drug docetaxel, an important drug used to treat many forms of cancer. It has the potential to save lives or improve the quality of life of cancer patients, but remains expensive as it is under patent.
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Praise for new clinics
The New Age | 14 May 2012
The communities of Mammutla, near Taung, Tlapeng and Moshoana villages, outside Ganyesa, sang and danced a welcome to a new life of decent health.
This was after health MEC Magome Masike officially opened new clinics in the areas on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
Old, dilapidated structures paved the way for new modern clinics valued at R32m, including construction and equipment.
The new structures consist of consultation rooms and waiting areas, which helps to eliminate long...
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District health councils launched
The New Age | 11 May 2012
In order to enable residents to voice their health concerns, district health councils have been established all around the Western Cape, with the latest being the Cape Town metro district health council launched yesterday by the Western Cape health MEC Theuns Botha.
This brings the total district health councils established in the province to six, as per the requirement of the National Health Act.
"The district health council will become the mouthpiece of the community to the...
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Global Fund will have US$1.6 billion more
The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria has announced that it will have US$1.6 billion more to invest in life-saving programmes between 2012 and 2014.
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SA growing fatter by the year
SA is growing – literally. About 61 percent of the country’s adults are overweight or obese, according to a study commissioned by a pharmaceutical company.
Forty-nine percent of the study group said they did not exercise.
“People are scared of making changes,” said Annike Massyn, an administrative assistant who recently began walking for exercise.
Move for Health Day is celebrated on May 10 in South Africa. It began in 2002 as the theme for WHO’s World...
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Billions owed, so testing is compromised at hospitals
Business Day | 10 May 2012
The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is still owed billions of rand by the provinces, compromising its ability to pay its suppliers and threatening its capacity to provide vital diagnostic tests for patients, its CEO, Sagie Pillay, told Parliament yesterday during his budget presentation.
The NHLS is SA’s biggest pathology laboratory, providing diagnostic tests for public health facilities in all nine provinces, the military and prisons. It has battled cash flow problems for...
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UNAIDS launches "Believe it. Do it." action campaign to help end new HIV infections among children by 2015
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today launched a new campaign, "Believe it. Do it.", aimed at bringing attention and action to the global goal of ending new HIV infections among children by 2015 and ensuring mothers living with HIV remain healthy.
Each year, about 390 000 children become newly infected with HIV and as many as 42 000 women living with HIV die from complications relating to HIV and pregnancy.
In 2011, world leaders at the United...
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South Africa launches campaign to reduce maternal mortality
The distinctive cry of a new-born baby pierces the air in the labour ward and stops conversation in its tracks. "That’s what we want to hear" remarks Sister Mavimbela, who just hours ago delivered him into the world. “When a baby cries, that’s the sign of a healthy delivery,” she says with the quiet confidence of someone who knows.
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More drinking water meets global standard — report
Business Day | 8 May 2012
The quality of drinking water in South Africa has improved significantly in the past year, with a "blue drop" score nationally of 87,6% — 15 percentage points higher than the national score for last year.
The blue drop report, released on Monday by Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa , measures the quality of drinking water against an international water quality measure known as SANS 241.
But in sharp contrast to the improved national score, the department has red-flagged...
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