[Updated] 500,000 former miners await compensation
The mining houses' Compensation Fund owes R1.5 billion to workers who developed occupational illnesses like silicosis while on the job, according to Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.*
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Read More » [Updated] 500,000 former miners await compensation
Marikana residents could stay, receive services
Residents of Marikana informal settlement outside Pretoria say they have languished for years without water, electricity or rubbish removal services. As a court case continues that may lead to residents’ removal, there may be a way for the community to stay.
Cleaner busted for allegedly stealing, selling ARVs
A cleaner at Soweto’s Diepkloof Clinic has been arrested for allegedly stealing and selling antiretrovirals (ARVs) and other medicines following community tip offs.
Prison’s long shadow: Stigma haunts former convicts
The suicide of an ex-prisoner, who was allegedly stigmatised in his community because of his conviction, has left his mother reeling. A Northern Cape social worker has now called on communities to stop discriminating against those who have served their time for their crimes.
‘You’re fat’ doctors wrongly tell mother with post-pregnancy hernia
A mother of five in Limpopo alleges she has been sent from pillar to post for almost three years in her desperate attempt to get her hernia properly treated.
Coping with childhood eczema
Thabitha Rakoma spent months trying to cure the dry patches of skin on her baby boy’s face until her local clinic diagnosed the problem.
Clinic shuts doors, turns away woman in labour
Nthabeleng Moloi alleges that Bethlehem’s Bohlokong Clinic closed its doors and sent her away after she arrived at the clinic in labour. She ultimately delivered her baby by herself.
Pneumococcal vaccine cuts hospitalisations by 70 percent
New data shows that South Africa's expensive pneumococcal vaccine roll out has cut childhood hospitalisations due to meningitis, pneumonia and rotavirus by about 70 percent in just five years, according to Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
WHO ‘cannot continue as is’
Both WHO and new UN sustainable development goals criticised by Gates Foundation Global Partners delegates
Department of health spending millions on negligence claims
Multimillion-rand negligence claims against the Department of Health have increased nine-fold since 2013, according to Stellenbosch University professor Ethelwynn Stellenberg.
Maternal mental health: Baby and bipolar
Exams, pregnancy and a new baby – life for 17-year-old Busi Sibande* had been hectic, which is why her family thought nothing of her strange behavior until the new mum was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Study unearths high rates of violence against gay, bi-sexual students
More than one in ten gay or bisexual male students report that they have been the target of campus violence because of their sexual orientation, according to the first national survey of sexual orientation and HIV risk on South African campuses released yesterday.
Tshwane to upgrade Soshanguve clinic
Construction to upgrade Soshanguve's Block JJ Clinic is expected to be completed by July. The clinic’s upgrade, which includes new buildings, comes after residents complained about poor infrastructure and long queues at the clinic, according to Lindela Mashigo, City of Tshwane director of media relations, communication, marketing and events .
Antidote to poor health services?
Horror stories about public health facilities have become common, but a new entity, the Office of Health Standards Compliance, has been set up to monitor standards and it has the legal muscle to force failing institutions to improve.
Man dies after alleged 12-hour wait for Natalspruit Hospital bed
Bheki Mabuya allegedly waited 12 hours for a bed at the Natalspruit Hospital after being admitted with meningitis. Mabuya’s family has alleged that he died due to hospital negligence.