South Africa now faces its fourth outbreak of mainly childhood diseases since last year. This follows the confirmation of a diphtheria outbreak by the National Department of Health last week after cases were recorded in Kwazulu-Natal and in the Western…
By Hannah Zhihan Jiang Healthcare workers (HCWs) say targeted programmes to destigmatise mental illnesses and support mental health among HCWs after the COVID-19 pandemic is needed more than ever. They stress the need to debunk the stereotype that HCWs are…
In 2022, there was a resurgence of influenza activity, following the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) is unable to say what the flu trend will look like this winter. However, a prevalence in cases is…
Disease experts warn it is critically important that South Africans get their Covid-19 vaccines, especially immunocompromised people. This comes after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 is no longer a global public health emergency. Professor Cheryl Cohen, Head of the…
The ongoing struggles in South Africa’s public healthcare system, including staff shortages, poor infrastructure and surgery backlogs, came under the spotlight on Tuesday when parliamentarians raised their concerns with Health Minister Joe Phaahla. The minister was delivering his department’s budget…
Decreasing investment in maternal and newborn health has stalled global progress in reducing deaths of pregnant women, mothers and babies since 2015. According to a new by the United Nations over 4.5 million women and babies die every year during…
Covid-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement on Friday, marking exactly three years since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China. “Yesterday,…
With the Covid-19 pandemic having negatively affected the provision of HIV services, there are calls for the global community to direct more funds towards community-led organisations providing HIV services, as they are an important tool in the fight against HIV. …
The low number of 12 to 34-year-olds getting their COVID-19 vaccines has played a part in the country failing to get 70 percent of South Africans vaccinated. The youth make up more than a third of the country’s population. The…
Though the National Department of Health in South Africa is yet to declare the fifth wave of Covid-19 infections, -researchers at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), say that the country has already passed the peak of the…
COVID-19 vaccinations are safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women. This is the finding of Wits University scientists who recently reviewed the effect of the vaccine during pregnancy. The narrative review by scientists identified no major safety concerns in the use…
Research conducted in South Africa to find shorter, more effective treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) has contributed to a shift in global policy guidelines. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced upcoming updates to the guidance on the treatment of…
The shortage of healthcare professionals in South Africa has led to nurses working in the public health sector faced with almost double the workloads. This is according to the President of the Young Nurses Indaba Trade Union, Lerato Maduma-Gova. “The…
The Aspen Pharmacare Covid-19 vaccination plant in the Eastern Cape is set to stop manufacturing Covid jabs and repurpose the facility to produce anesthetics within the next six weeks if it does not receive any orders for its Aspenovax vaccine.…