Health e News
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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
In a bid to do away with outdated, painful finger sticks, the South African Diabetes Advocacy wants sensor technology made available for all those living with Type 1 diabetes. The non-profit organisation (NPO) lodged an appeal with the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) to include new non-invasive flash glucose sensor monitors as a Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB). Bridget McNulty, SA Diabetes Advocacy Chairperson, confirmed their campaign has plenty of backing. “We also have 47 pages of testimonials from people with Type 1 diabetes and from doctors who support this appeal. The petition is to show that we have public support too – over 6 000 people have signed it so far!” said McNulty. Diabetes is the second leading cause of death in South Africa. According to statistics from the International Diabetes Federation, over 4.5 million South Africans have diabetes with the majority of those living with Type 2 diabetes. However,
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has admitted that its potable water should not be consumed as it is a health hazard. This comes after months of insisting the water is safe to drink and cook with. “Through rigorous routine testing and sampling of water in the distribution system for the past week, the metro has learnt that certain microbiological limits were exceeded. It is through this process that the municipality has come to detect failures in the water compliance with SANS standards. This then means that, for now, the water coming out of our distribution system could present a risk to human health if ingested. “ It blames the deterioration in the water quality on the low dam levels caused by the current drought and fluctuating reservoir levels. The information was released after the Democratic Alliance launched two Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) applications. Nelson Mandela Bay Water
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The health department has made several changes to the vaccination programme . This includes cutting the waiting time between the first and second doses of Pfizer from 42 days to 21 days as from Wednesday. In a statement released on. Monday morning, the department said that everyone fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine can now go for their booster dose three months after the second dose. The interval is currently 180 days. It also announced that all individuals older than 18 years of age who have received one dose of the Johnson &Johnson vaccine will as of today be able to receive a booster dose after two months. [Read] The Department of @HealthZA has announced changes to the vaccination programme as part of ongoing efforts to increase uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa https://t.co/hYz9QImMYs pic.twitter.com/ZDLVzleBhW — @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) February 21, 2022 On-site availability will determine which booster will
South Africans wishing to manage their COVID-19 symptoms, may now use Merck’s molnupiravir pill after the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) approved it yesterday. However, the National Department of Health, won’t be adding the pill to their available treatment options. National Deportment of Health spokesperson, Foster Mohale, said that government was not planning to buy the treatment pill. “We welcome the decision by SAHPRA to authorise the use of the pill in SA. However, we are not going to procure the pill for the public sector. The evaluation showed that it is not significantly better than how we treat COVID-19 now,” said Mohale. It has since been reported that Dr Nicholas Crisp, acting Director-General of the National Health Department, said the pill is too costly. Risk of hospitalisation, death slashed SAHPRA’s green light comes after phase 2 and 3 clinical trials showed it reduces the risk of hospitalisation
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It’s been almost a year since crucial parts of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) were ravaged by fire – and up until this day, they remain closed. In an effort to speed things up, Gauteng Premier David Makhura signed a proclamation last week to transfer all functions relating to the refurbishments from the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID) to the Department of Health. Acting Director-General in the Office of the Premier, Thabo Masebe, made the announcement during a press briefing earlier today. No agreement in place Masebe added that the one of the reasons behind the delay was that there was no agreement in place between the two departments. “The Department of Health did not agree on the scope of work and the budget that was proposed by the Department of Infrastructure Development,” he said. Masebe said that the transfer would help in fast-tracking the project of
The Health Department and sexual and reproductive health NGOs are urging South Africans to use condoms to avoid contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). South Africa is marking STI/Condom Week which highlights the importance of condom usage and also educates people about STIs. Young people must be especially cautious and use condoms to protect themselves, said Precious Robinson, chief technical specialist for prevention, care, and treatment at health NGO, Right to Care. “It is a serious concern that in South Africa 7.9 million people were living with HIV in 2020 with a high volume of STIs. The high numbers of STI cases have partly been due to inadequate prevention. Most global health targets to end and prevent HIV and STIs for 2020 were missed because the focus was on Covid-19, and South Africa is no exception,” said Robinson. South Africa has the highest prevalence rate of HIV in the world, and