An explosive investigation by the Health Ombud has uncovered a litany of catastrophic failures and lethal neglect at the Northern Cape Mental Health Hospital. The hospital staff left patients in dangerously cold conditions without electricity. This lethal neglect led to at least two deaths and caused severe harm to others. Following a complaint from Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in…
Category: July 2024
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Healthcare Fraud: 324 Charged in Major US Bust
The US Justice Department has announced that it has halted a massive series of healthcare fraud schemes. These schemes aimed at defrauding the federal government of an estimated $14.6 billion. This has resulted in charges against hundreds of individuals across the country. In what the department has called the largest healthcare fraud initiative in its history, the nationwide operation resulted…
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Growing demand for affordable primary health insurance
In South Africa, there’s a big rise in demand for low-cost primary health insurance. This is a stark contrast to the stagnant market for traditional medical schemes, according to Damian McHugh, the chief marketing officer of Momentum Health Solutions. Primary healthcare insurance is much cheaper than traditional medical schemes. It isn’t strictly regulated and offers basic health services like visits…
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Mark Bower to retire as Netcare chair
Netcare has announced that Mark Bower will retire as chairperson of the healthcare group at the end of September. He will also step down as chairperson of the nomination committee and as a member of the audit, risk, remuneration, social, and ethics committees, also with effect from September 30. Bower joined the Netcare board as an independent non-executive director in…
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SA’s healthcare reform and National Health Insurance
In South Africa, less than 16% of people have private medical insurance, and nearly three-quarters of those insured are white. Despite only serving a small portion of the population, private healthcare consumes about 50% of the country’s health expenditure. With the remaining 50% of the health budget, the public health sector manages to provide Universal Health Care services to 70%…
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Experts discuss challenges facing National Health Insurance
The recent ruling declaring parts of the National Health Act unconstitutional is likely the first of many. Experts view these challenges as opportunities to find better solutions. A panel of experts, including Professor Alex van den Heever, Professor Saloshni Naidoo, and advocate Rajesh Choudree, discussed the NHI at an event hosted by the History Society at the 1860 Heritage Centre.…
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The road to NHI needs a private sector safety belt
As South Africans, we have set our destination as a future of healthcare equality, but the route mapped out for us in the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act is potholed, long, and winding … As the Health Minister points out, structural imbalances between private and public healthcare must be addressed. However, the fork in the road ahead could put us…
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PEPFAR expands ARV purchases from local African suppliers
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, is increasing its purchase of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) from local suppliers to support 2 million patients in Africa, according to Stavros Nicolaou, head of strategic trade at Aspen Pharmacare. This expansion is significant because it will boost drug production in Africa. PEPFAR, started by President George W. Bush in…
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Health Department seeks affordable CAB-LA for HIV prevention
The National Department of Health in South Africa seeks information on affordable prices for the anti-HIV injection CAB-LA. This comes after accepting a donation of 231,000 doses from the US government’s PEPFAR programme. A request for information is a formal way for the government to ask manufacturers about a product’s price, production capacity, and supply details. Khadija Jamaloodien, head of…
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CMS seeks to overturn court ruling on Medipos Medical Scheme
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) is challenging a Pretoria High Court decision to remove the provisional curatorship of the SA Post Office (Sapo) medical scheme, Medipos. The regulator believes the judge made a mistake and should have kept the curatorship in place. Medipos is a small scheme only for post office employees and their families. It faced financial problems…
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Lenacapavir offers key HIV treatment advances
Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, from the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, was overwhelmed with emotion when she learned the results of a new HIV prevention drug trial conducted by Gilead. The new drug, lenacapavir, offered 100% protection against HIV for thousands of young women aged 16 to 25 in South Africa and Uganda. Bekker, who has witnessed the devastating impact of HIV…
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HIV prevalence: health challenges and progress
A recent study reveals that women in South Africa have a higher HIV prevalence (16.4%) compared with men (8.8%). Activists identify early sexual activity, age-disparate relationships, low condom use, and having multiple sexual partners as key factors contributing to this disparity. Data from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) highlights that while South Africa is making progress against HIV/AIDS, women…