Author: Njih Favour

ActionSA has called for the resignation of KwaZulu Natal (KZN) Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane, over her “dishonesty” about medicine shortages in the province.  Earlier this week the department spokesperson, Ntokozo Maphisa, denied reports of a shortage of essential medication in public hospitals and clinics. This came after ActionSA wrote a letter urging Simelane to visit various healthcare facilities to assess the situation.  “We categorically refute these claims. All inspections revealed that sufficient stocks of essential medication are available and accessible to our healthcare facilities,” Maphisa says.  Health-e News spoke to patients and staff at several facilities, who all claim there…

The future of many lifesaving programmes – including several TB research projects – that get funding from the United States is currently uncertain. (Photo: Louis Reed on Unsplash) News & Features 4th March 2025 | Elri Voigt Just over a month after US President Donald Trump implemented a 90-day freeze of all foreign assistance, the future looks very uncertain for tuberculosis research. Among others, a large TB research programme that was worth up to $200 million was axed last week. While it is one of the oldest diseases around, tuberculosis (TB) still kills more people on the planet than any…

22 Nov SAHPRA office closure during the 2024 festive season SAHPRA offices will be closed for the festive season from 12:00 on Tuesday, 24 December 2024 and will re-open on Monday, 06 January 2025. Please note: Dates, placed within brackets for various email addresses, will guide stakeholders to the timeframes that emails will be processed. Dates, placed within brackets for various contacts, will guide stakeholders to the timeframes of their availability to assist with queries. Download PDF Source link

The family of 16-year-old Katlego Ledwaba and members of his local football club at Mogoto village in Zebediela, Limpopo are blaming nurses at Mogoto clinic for his recent untimely death.   On the afternoon of February 12, the teenager complained of shortness of breath during practice with his teammates in the Zebediela Black Pirates football club at their grounds.  Katlego’s family say his death could have been prevented. (Photo: supplied) At around five pm, he collapsed and lost consciousness, according to fellow players and the family.   “My grandson was taken to Mogoto clinic, just a stone’s throw from the football field…

Professor Francois Venter is one of the foremost HIV research scientists in South Africa and hails from the Ezintsha Research Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand. (Photo: Supplied)South Africa faces its worst health crisis in 20 years. Worse than COVID, and one that will overshadow diabetes as a major killer, while pouring petrol on a dwindling TB fire. But it is preventable, argues Professor Francois Venter if our government steps up urgently.Nearly eight-million people have HIV in South Africa; they need life-long antiretroviral medicines to stay healthy. The near-total removal of US government funding last week, a programme called…

29 Nov SAHPRA Offices will be unavailable on 29 November 2024 Please note that SAHPRA Head Office, including Cape Town and Durban Regional Offices will be unavilable today, 29 November 2024 due to the organisation’s Annual General Meeting. If you require assistance, please use applicable contacts from Key Contacts: https://www.sahpra.org.za/key-contacts/ Source link

The Limpopo health department has come under fire for continuing to pay a hefty monthly rental for a rundown building in Polokwane that houses its provincial medicine depot. Despite the building’s deteriorating condition, the department continues to pay R150,000 monthly to the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA), without a clear long-term plan to address the state of the building. To make matters worse, workers at the facility claim that the department has been paying rent without a valid lease agreement since April of last year.  LEDA did not respond to our media query. Subscribe to our newsletter The medical depot…

#InsideTheBox is a column by Dr Andy Gray, a pharmaceutical sciences expert at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Pharmaceutical Policy and Evidence Based Practice. (Photo: Supplied) Comment & Analysis 19th February 2025 | Andy Gray In the first of a new series of monthly columns for Spotlight, Dr Andy Gray considers what we mean when we refer to medicines as “essential” – something that is routinely done by the WHO and health authorities in many countries. That every health system needs medicines, including vaccines, to treat and prevent and at times to cure…

09 Jan Temporary telephone system disruption Posted at 16:40h in News & Updates by Ntokozo Msiza The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) wishes to inform stakeholders that the organisation is currently experiencing a technical issue with its telephone system, which is affecting both outgoing and incoming calls. The Authority’s service provider is working diligently to resolve the issue as soon as possible. In the meantime, SAHPRA encourages you to reach out to us via email or other communication channels for any urgent inquiries. SAHPRA apologises for any inconvenience this may cause and will provide updates on the resolution…

It’s barely a month into the school year and several incidents of school bullying have already been reported across the country.  Two weeks back, a 14-year-old boy in Cape Town shared how his schoolmates dipped his head into a dirty toilet and smeared human faeces on his face and uniform. In the same week, a mother shared on social media about her daughter’s bullying ordeal at a Centurion school in Gauteng. Just this week a widely circulating video shows pupils being beaten by others, in full view of their peers.  Research shows that school bullying has a profound impact on…