Diabetes deaths in SA have risen sharply, and the disease has become one of South Africa’s most serious public health threats. New mortality figures show that it was the country’s leading underlying natural cause of death in 2023. According to death notification data processed by Stats SA and reviewed by the Diabetes Alliance, diabetes accounted for 27,692 deaths. That represented…
Category: Archive
Every Health Matters article, newest first. Use the search or browse by month to find older reporting.
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New Cholesterol Guidelines Shift Heart Risk Screening Earlier
Major medical organisations have updated cholesterol guidance for the first time since 2018. The new cholesterol guidelines represent an important shift in how doctors assess heart disease risk. The New Cholesterol Guidelines encourage physicians to look beyond a patient’s 10-year risk of heart attack or stroke. Doctors are now advised to consider cardiovascular risk over several decades. Health experts say…
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Fake Doctors In South Africa Pose Sophisticated Threat
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has raised serious concerns over the growing number of fraudulent medical practitioners. The association warns that these individuals are becoming significantly harder to detect. According to SAMA, these fraudsters use increasingly sophisticated methods to impersonate qualified professionals. Their tactics include presenting forged qualifications and falsifying registration documents. In some extreme cases, they even assume…
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Liver Perfusion Machine Boosts South Africa’s Transplant Care
A R2.7 million Liver Perfusion Machine has been introduced at the Wits University Donald Gordon Medical Centre. It is the first transplant centre in Africa to use this technology for liver transplantation. The machine can preserve and resuscitate donor livers outside the body. It works by pumping warm, oxygenated blood and nutrients through the organ. This gives doctors more time…
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NHLS Debt Crisis Puts Public Healthcare At Risk
The NHLS Debt Crisis is raising serious concerns about the stability of South Africa’s public healthcare system. By March, provincial health departments owed the National Health Laboratory Service about R11bn for critical services already provided. The NHLS plays a central role in public healthcare. It provides diagnostic testing, disease monitoring, outbreak support, HIV and TB programme services, forensic pathology expertise…
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RAF Medico-Legal Payments Facing Years-Long Delays
Healthcare professionals serving the Road Accident Fund (RAF) are facing extreme financial strain. Medico-legal experts who assess accident injuries and loss of income are dealing with years-long payment delays. Evidence presented to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) revealed a system in complete collapse. These experts provide independent reports for RAF claims and court proceedings. Without them, the legal…
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Lenacapavir PrEP Rollout Brings Hope Amid Service Cuts
South Africa has launched lenacapavir, a new injectable form of pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. The injection provides six months of protection against HIV infection. It is given twice a year. Health experts say the Lenacapavir PrEP Rollout could be a major step forward for HIV prevention. It offers an alternative to oral PrEP, which requires people to take tablets regularly.…
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Employer Health Insurance Costs To Rise For US Workers In 2027
US workers are likely to pay more for employer-sponsored health insurance in 2027. Large companies are preparing to pass more healthcare costs on to staff. This follows another year of rising medical inflation and prescription drug costs. A Mercer survey of companies with at least 500 employees found that two-thirds of large employers expect to raise monthly health insurance premiums…
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DHMS AI Prompts Drive Higher Screening Rates Among Members
Discovery Health Medical Scheme members who have opted into an AI-driven health guidance programme are significantly more likely to complete routine health checks and cancer screenings than members who have not enrolled. This is according to preliminary findings from Discovery Health. These results may be influenced by the effective use of DHMS AI Prompts within the programme. The results support…
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Bonitas Tender Dispute Puts Scheme Governance Under Spotlight
The Bonitas Tender Dispute has placed fresh scrutiny on major operational changes at South Africa’s second-largest open medical scheme. The legal matter between Medscheme and Bonitas Medical Scheme was expected to be heard this week. It has now been postponed again. At the centre of the case are four tenders. These shifted key Bonitas functions away from Medscheme and other…
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Child Stunting Risks Threaten South Africa’s 2030 Goals
Children living in poorly serviced informal settlements face severe health threats. Repeated infections caused by unhygienic living conditions are drastically increasing their vulnerability to development issues. The DG Murray Trust has issued an urgent warning to the healthcare sector. South Africa’s national goal to end child stunting by 2030 hangs in the balance. The non-profit organisation stresses that all spheres…
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mRNA Vaccines Show Promise in Personalised Therapy
Cancer vaccines based on mRNA technology are showing encouraging results against some of the world’s hardest-to-treat cancers, including melanoma, pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma. The same technology used to develop COVID-19 vaccines at record speed is now being tested to train the immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells. In addition, researchers say the field has become one of the…