Food services staff at Chris Hani Baragwanath (CHB) Hospital have claimed that patients are often served rotten and contaminated food and food preparation guidelines and menus designed by dieticians are ignored. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one CHB kitchen staff…

OurHealth. – Tumi (not her real name) was at death’s door when her grandmother carried her on her back to the Golden Gateway Hospice in Bethlehem, in the Free State. Story by Thamsanqa Majola. “Before we took her to hospice…

OurHealth – Nombulelo Manala Lubhelu (45) of Lusikisiki-kwaGqwarhu location has taken the tough decision of declining lifesaving antiretrovirals (ARVs) because she is simply too poor to buy food and does not want to take her medication on an empty stomach.…

Sport scientist Professor Tim Noakes continued his controversial stance yesterday, stating that dietary advice fed to the public for the last few decades are part of a conspiracy to promote higher consumption of corn-based products that are harmful to human…

VHEMBE. – The Department of Health and Social Development in Limpopo is collaborating with the Zimbabwean government to curb a cholera outbreak in the region. This is according to Phuti Seloba, the spokesperson on cholera issue for the South African…

A landmark decision by the Indian Supreme Court to uphold India’s Patents Act in the face of the seven-year challenge by pharmaceutical company Novartis has been hailed across the world as a major victory for access to affordable medicines in…

A historic breakthrough. That’s how key stakeholders in breast health in South Africa described a meeting with the Health ministry on March 21, Human Rights Day. By Sue Segar The significant outcome of the meeting – attended by deputy health…

South African scientists have dismissed predictions of a possible public health emergency following reports from Australia that a small number of swine flu patients were resistant to the first-line treatment, Tamiflu. Resistance is carefully monitored in South Africa and globally…

VHEMBE. – The health services here has been unable to help a pensioner who is suffering from strange illness. George Mmbanguseni Munzhelele of Matshavhawe village in Dzimauli, Limpopo, is suffering from a strange illness that has been “eating” his fingers…

JOHANNESBURG – A cheap antiseptic ointment, used to cleanse a newborn’s umbilical cord, can reduce the risk of infection and death in the first few weeks of life by as much as 20 percent. Chlorhexidine has been around for ages…

JOHANNESBURG – Each year, about three million of the 7.7-million children who die before reaching their fifth birthday are newborns who do not survive their first four weeks of life. This situation has led to the top health agencies and…

JOHANNESBURG – Experts from around the globe are gathering this week to address the preventable and unnecessary deaths of newborns, which accounts for almost half of all deaths among children under five. “No child is born to die.  And no mother…

VHEMBE. – Requests to the Department of Education to upgrade facilities at the Mafukani pre-school have fallen on deaf ears, and have eventually resulted in a four-year-old nearly losing her life after being bitten by a snake in the sub-standard…

Researchers in the United States today said that they have identified a case of a ‘functional’ HIV cure in a child infected with HIV who began antiretroviral treatment within days of birth. The child has now been off treatment for…

South Africa has received global recognition for achieving a significant reduction in the number of children newly infected with HIV. The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) launched the 2012 Global Epidemic Report yesterday (SUBS: TUES) and praised South…