Cancer patients at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital are not receiving life-saving treatment because of a machinery breakdown caused by a payment default to the service provider, according to the Demoractic Alliance (DA).

Graphic warnings on cigarette packs are more likely to get smokers thinking about the health risks associated with their habit than packs with only text warnings. This is according to a new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Nightshift work may increase a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer by 30 percent, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Cancer.

A court challenge by British American Tobacco (Batsa) on the advertising ban of its products in South Africa was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) yesterday.

Diesel exhaust fumes cause cancer and should be categorised along with asbestos, arsenic and mustard gas as a potentially deadly carcinogen, according to the World Health Organisation’€™s (WHO) cancer agency.

DURBAN – Heavy drinkers are three times more likely to have tuberculosis than those who don’€™t drink heavily. They are also far less likely to complete their TB treatment. This is according to Professor Charles Parry of the Medical Research Council, who believes that TB patients should be screened for alcohol abuse and educated about its dangers.

Regardless of the age at which you quit, ex-smokers live longer than those who continue to smoke, according to a recent meta-analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

DURBAN ‘€“ Cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis will continue to increase unless scientists develop more effective medicines with fewer side effects.

DURBAN – South Africa’€™s overcrowded, poorly ventilated prisons are ‘€œmelting pots’€ for tuberculosis infection, according to Professor Robin Wood from the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre.

Smoking continues to be a major challenge to public health despite efforts by government and civil society to limit the use of harmful tobacco products.

Cancer cases worldwide are likely to rise by nearly three-quarters by 2030, partly because other diseases are being stamped out and more developing countries are adopting Western lifestyles linked to cancer.