Rare window of opportunity to set up compulsory health insurance
Compulsory health insurance could be an effective way of dealing with problems in the private sector and addressing disparities between public and private health sectors.
Health Systems
Read More » Rare window of opportunity to set up compulsory health insurance
Private hospitals grow while public sector contracts
While hospital beds in the public sector are being reduced, the private sector has added almost 7 000 beds between 1998 and 2006.
‘Future time bomb’
South Africa is sitting on a 'future time bomb' as employers remove medical health insurance from employees when they retire.
Spat mars HIV efforts in Mtubatuba
A new organisation supported by US celebrities has caused controversy in northern KwaZulu-Natal, prompting the question: is there enough co-ordination of donor funding of HIV/AIDS?
New PMTCT protocol in two weeks
Government has committed itself to announcing a new protocol for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programme within the next two weeks.
SA comes under fire for failing to stem XDR-TB
South Africa's health department has come under fire from activists and HIV/tuberculosis experts for its failure to respond to extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB with claims that one of the critical drugs to stem this epidemic is not available in KwaZulu-Natal, the hotbed of the outbreak.
How to curtail XDR-TB spread in hospitals
Measures to reduce the spread of XDR-TB in hospital settings, the continuous poaching of African nurses by the West and Russia's raging HIV epidemic are some of the stories in the latest Centers for Disease Control Update.
Chris Hani Baragwanath management under scrutiny
The credibility of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital's management is under scrutiny, following the recent media expose' of poor conditions in the facility's maternity ward.
Israeli docs help Swaziland to circumcise
Israeli doctors will be traveling to Swaziland for two week stints to assist in a mass circumcision campaign in the hope of curbing the spread of HIV. This and other stories are contained in the latest Centers for Disease Control HIV, Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention newsletter.
Doctor wants to obey Hippocrates not government policy
The case of dismissed Mpumalanga doctor Malcolm Naude could have wide implications for all doctors working in the public sector.
DA urges Manto to look in the mirror
Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang described as disturbing the photograph of three babies in a cardboard box at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital while the DA urged her to "look in the mirror" if she wanted to know who to blame.
Public health crisis in South Africa is more just TB and HIV
South Africa's public health crisis is deep-rooted in systemic problems and progress will require far-sighted, sustainable solutions, is the argument in Critical Health Perspectives, a publication of the People's Health Movement. By David Pienaar.
Doctor challenges ‘unfair’ dismissal from Mpumalanga
A Mpumalanga doctor has turned to the Labour Court to challenge what he says was unfair dismissal by the Mpumalanga health department in 2001 for treating rape survivors.
Poor health system hits the poor hard’ SAHRC
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says poor communities are hardest hit by poor infrastructure and the shortage of staff in the public health care system.
World docs slam Zim human rights abuses
Doctors worldwide have slammed the consistent health and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe at the 58th General Assembly of the World Medical Association (WMA), an international organisation representing physicians worldwide, in Copenhagen.