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Just over 46,000 people could have been fully vaccinated with the 92,370 doses of the Pfizer vaccine that expire tomorrow. Once expired these vaccines cannot be used and will be destroyed. Health Ministry spokesman Foster Mohale said the expiring stock is equal to 0.24% of all Pfizer doses received, which is under the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 10% acceptable ratio of vaccine waste. “We are concerned about the wastage. This could have increased our number of vaccinated people. Vaccine hesitancy is also a pandemic,” he said. Another 897,270 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will expire in May; 5 845 800 will expire in June, and 4 831 560 will expire by the end of July. The shelf life of the vaccine from the date of manufacture is nine months. The value of the vaccines due to expire tomorrow is R13-million. However, as this includes doses donated to South Africa
The Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA) is fighting to include health in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Climate Commission (PCC). According to the PCC, its mission is to oversee and facilitate a just and equitable transition towards a low-emissions and climate-resilient economy. Formed in 2020, the commission aims to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including all spheres of government. But, there is one crucial sector missing – health. PHASA said that the PCC has failed to include a health representative. This omission is surprising given that the health sector plays an important role in the mitigation of emissions and building adaptive capacity. Why does health matter in climate change? According to a 2020 Ipsos survey, that monitored global health services in 27 countries, half of the more than 20 000 adults rated the quality of healthcare in their country higher than two years prior. Another study, conducted
An expert believes that South Africa’s low rate of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) will remain a concern until new mothers are offered more support and education. Katinka Lategan, a certified lactation consultant, said mothers face several challenges because they are not educated enough and usually don’t get assistance. “In general, I don’t think there’s enough support and education for moms that are breastfeeding. So very often, they experience challenges in the beginning, and they don’t get enough assistance to rectify those problems,” she said. Lategan added: “If these challenges aren’t addressed, other problems may develop. For instance, low milk production, because the baby is not effectively removing milk. Or maybe, they are returning to work and the employer or the work setup doesn’t allow sufficient time for pumping.” Mom shares her struggles First-time mother Olympious Radinku said she struggled to get her baby to latch when she first started breastfeeding, Despite
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You no longer have to wear a mask outdoors and you can now be half a metre closer to people. These are among the changes that President Cyril Ramaphosa made to the COVID-19 regulations last night. Ramaphosa also confirmed that the state of disaster would end once public comment on the health regulations published by Health Minister, Joe Phaahla, is completed. Learning to live with the virus “The end of the National State of Disaster does not mean the end of the pandemic. It just means that we are changing the way we manage the pandemic. We will rely on health rather than disaster management regulations. It means that we are learning to live with the virus in our presence,” said Ramaphosa He said after four waves of infection, fewer people are becoming severely ill and requiring hospitalisation. And fewer people are dying as a result of the virus. Ramaphosa
Nine-year-old Busiswe used to struggle to read, write and spell. All she needed was an eye test and a pair of glasses but eyecare is not easily accessible in the rural part of Mpumalanga where she lives. Busisiwe’s story is not unique. A BMC Health Services Research study found that the prevalence of never having had an eye exam was 81 percent among people who live in rural areas compared to 66.9 percent among urban residents. Dr. Inez Allin, Clinics Coordinator at Tshemba Foundation said people living in rural areas face many healthcare challenges, from capacity issues to having to travel long distances to access healthcare. The result is that proactive healthcare is often not an option. The Tshemba Foundation is an organisation that helps children like Busisiwe. They have a medical volunteer programme that attracts healthcare professionals from around the world. Allin said if Busisiwe lived in an urban
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A history of financial challenges has bubbled over as the management of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) go into crisis management mode after a nightmare week. Disgruntled workers have aired their concerns over two burning issues – the latest – food shortages due to contract mismanagement and non-payment of suppliers. CHBAH CEO, Dr. Nkele Lesia, clarified that the hospital did not run out of food. However, she confirmed that they didn’t have bread for any of the patients for three weeks because the Gauteng Department of Health hadn’t been paid suppliers. Bread not on the menu “We had challenges with the delivery of bread, not with any other food items. Patients still received their normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” she said during Friday’s briefing at the hospital. Lesia added: “It doesn’t mean that we are not giving them other snacks in the absence of bread. Patients, especially those
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Limpopo community health workers (CHWs) are up in arms over their current employment status which denies them any access to benefits like other civil servants in the province. This, despite being on the government’s persal payroll system. Mapula Monyepao, a community health worker, visited the office of the Limpopo Health Department MEC, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, in a follow-up visit recently. He was accompanied by two union representatives from the National Public Service Workers Union (NAPSWU) and its federation, SAFTU (South African Federation of Trade). The aim of the meeting was to check on the progress made on the permanent appointments of the health workers. Prior to this visit, a memorandum was delivered during a mass protest in October last year. But, Monyepao’s delegation emerged from the meeting disappointed and defeated. MEC unable to deliver “The MEC is not promising anything positive and this is demoralising us. Yes, the government pays
Gauteng MEC for Health, Dr. Nomathemba Mokgethi confirmed that the Helen Joseph Hospital has seen an increase in the number of mental healthcare admissions due to a number of reasons. This includes hundreds of patients, seeking care from outside the hospital’s feeder area, flocking to the facility. Mokgethi added that an increase in poor socio-economic circumstances worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of illegal substances, and families who refuse to take back their relatives once discharged, have put additional pressure on the hospital. She was responding to a legislature question and also cited the temporary closure of some sections of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) as another contributing factor. “The hospital is also liaising with other psychiatric wards in other facilities to transfer patients whenever there is capacity,” added Mokgethi. Numbers say it all Gauteng Health spokesperson, Kwara Kekana, provided statistics to back up the increasing numbers.
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The Department of Health narrowly avoided court action after announcing on Monday it had finally paid 53 junior doctors, serving internships at public hospitals in Gauteng their January and February salaries. The appointment process for three other junior doctors is still underway subject to the conclusion of the administrative issues, the Gauteng Department of Health said in a statement.. The provincial department has blamed the bungle on too many medical interns being allocated to the province. It said positions for 429 medical interns are funded annually but this year the national department allocated an additional 203 interns to Gauteng. Payment delays blamed on oversupply of junior doctors to Gauteng “This has meant that GDoH has had to first confirm additional full funding for any excess interns allocated to the province beyond the available baseline of GDoH funded posts. This unfortunately results in delays in payments to some of the interns,”the
Residents of Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) in the Eastern Cape have had to either dig deep into their pockets or take matters into their own hands after the water quality in the area was deemed unsafe. Last week, authorities urged residents to bleach the water needed for drinking or cooking. It seems as if poor maintenance of water infrastructure, financial management, and a lack of water purification has led to a deterioration of the water quality. Siphiwo Banzi, a mother of a four-month-old baby, said she was anxious about the impact the water could have on her son. ”Imagine I have to prepare formula milk for my baby and bathe him every day. I really don’t trust this water. Although I have to boil it first when preparing my child’s milk, it still remains brown.” Extra costs The family has resorted to buying bottled water to prepare the baby formula