The single exit price for medicines will rise 2.88% from October. The industry warns rising input costs are straining medicine supply. The single exit price (SEP) of medicines and scheduled substances will rise 2.88% from 1 October. This is the second adjustment this year. South Africa’s pharmaceutical industry warns that rising input costs are squeezing medicine supply and triggering shortages.…
Category: Archive
Every Health Matters article, newest first. Use the search or browse by month to find older reporting.
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Medical scheme contributions: BHF challenges CMS
Medical scheme contributions for 2027 have become a point of contention between the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) and the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS). The BHF has challenged the regulator’s guidance that schemes anchor next year’s contribution increases at 3.8%. It argues that the figure does not adequately reflect the cost pressures facing the industry. The association represents schemes…
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Acute Pain in African Hospitals Affects Two-Thirds of Patients
Acute pain in African hospitals is far more common than previously documented, with two-thirds of admitted patients affected, according to a new University of Cape Town (UCT) study. Researchers found that 67.9% of adults experienced some level of pain, while 14.4% – roughly one in seven – reported severe pain, defined as a score of seven or more out of…
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Mpox Cases in SA Rise as Local Transmission Accelerates
Mpox cases in South Africa have climbed sharply over the past few weeks, prompting the Department of Health to urge immediate and sustained public co-operation. By 17 September, the country had recorded 18 laboratory-confirmed infections and one probable case, according to departmental spokesperson Foster Mohale. The trend points to growing local transmission of a preventable viral infection. Mohale said 13…
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NHLS Scrambles as Pathology Services Funding Runs Dry
The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), the backbone of South Africa’s public pathology system, is scrambling to secure new blood-testing providers. This follows the service running out of money for key pathology services. The contract covering small and medium haematology labs at several of the country’s largest hospitals has lapsed. Funds in a central purchasing arrangement ran dry. The affected…
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Momentum Group Posts Record Earnings
Momentum Group has reported record earnings for the year to end-June, with normalised headline earnings passing the R7bn mark set under its Impact strategy a full year ahead of schedule. The insurer credited a strong operational showing across most of its business units. Behind Momentum Group’s record earnings Normalised headline earnings, which strip out items such as treasury shares held…
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Sanlam Writes Down AfroCentric to Nil but Won’t Sell
Sanlam has written down its investment in healthcare management group AfroCentric to nil after medical scheme Bonitas moved to end its relationship. Yet, the insurer insists there is still value to extract. The stake will stay. Sanlam CEO Paul Hanratty ruled out any sale. Sanlam owns 60% of AfroCentric, a holding it took three years ago and which has so…
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GLP-1 Alone Won’t Solve South Africa’s Diabetes Crisis
GLP-1 medicines are drawing intense interest, but health experts say they cannot resolve South Africa’s diabetes crisis on their own. Deeper answers lie in earlier diagnosis, stronger primary care, healthier food environments, and long-term patient support. Diabetes was the country’s leading underlying natural cause of death in 2023, claiming 27,692 lives, or 5.8% of all recorded deaths, according to Stats…
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Aspen Bets Recovery on Filling Sterile Manufacturing Lines
Aspen Pharmacare’s turnaround now hinges on its sterile manufacturing, the costly network of injectable-drug plants it must fill. This follows last year’s collapse of a major mRNA contract. CEO Stephen Saad sums up the setback with a farmer’s phrase: “We lost the milk but not the cow.” The contract’s loss blew roughly R2bn out of the manufacturing division’s expected earnings.…
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US Healthcare Affordability Crisis Squeezes Small Employers
The healthcare affordability crisis in the United States is straining employers of every size, but it is hitting small businesses hardest. Employers expect health costs to rise by nearly 10% on average in 2027. For many small firms, the rise is expected to be roughly double, according to survey data cited in a recent commentary. Because most Americans have employer-sponsored…
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Thembisile Xulu Named New Health Director-General
South Africa has a new health Director-General. Last week, a cabinet statement confirmed the appointment of Dr Thembisile Xulu, the outgoing chief executive of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). She becomes the country’s sixth permanent health DG since 1994. Her appointment moves her from coordinating the national response to HIV, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections into the top…
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Gauteng Nurse Shortage Deepens, Threatening NHI Rollout
Gauteng’s public health system is losing at least 100 nurses a month, a haemorrhage that officials warn could undermine the rollout of National Health Insurance (NHI). The province, which has the country’s highest overall health spending and the most hospital beds, told the provincial legislature it needs at least R5.7bn to fill thousands of vacancies. The Gauteng nurse shortage now…