Health

 

Revolutionise US 911 services to startup local tech

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RapidDeploy, a local tech startup, is set to modernise 911 services in the US, following a recent partnership with multinational telecommunications company AT&T.

The local tech startup that has revolutionised access to emergency services in South Africa, is set to modernise 911 for law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services in the United States. This follows a recent partnership with multinational telecommunications company AT&T.

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Steven Raucher, RapidDeploy CEO and co-founder, says “As a South African born company, we could not be more thrilled that our homegrown, non-traditional approach to emergency services is taking off in such a competitive overseas market. Most important
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Outbreak of Klebsiella pneumonia in Vosloorus hospital

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The Gauteng Department of Health has confirmed the outbreak of Klebsiella pneumonia at the Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital, in Vosloorus.

The head of department (HOD), Professor Mkhululi Lukhele, paid a visit to the hospital to assess the situation following the outbreak and a recent protest by employees of the facility.

During the visit, Lukhele confirmed that the hospital’s neonatal unit identified seven cases of Klebsiella pneumonia outbreak in July 2018, which sadly resulted in the deaths of two babies.

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“Contrary to what has been reported in the media, there were five babies that were being treated and out of the five, one of the baby’s results was negative,” sa
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Market concentration is plaguing South Africa’s private healthcare market

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The preliminary findings of a recent inquiry into South Africa’s private healthcare sector shows worrying trends. Key among the inquiry’s revelations are high concentration levels in the market.

For example, the report shows that 70% of the open medical schemes market is controlled by two players – Discovery Health Medical Scheme and Bonitas. The market for restricted medical aid schemes is dominated by the Government Employees Medical Scheme, with a 47% market share. The medical scheme administrators market is controlled by three players, Discovery Health, MMI Holdings and Medscheme. These three have a 70% combined market share.

The situation is no better in the market for private hospitals. Three hospital groups – Netcare, Mediclinic and Life Healthcare – hold 83% of the national market.

The concentration problem in the private healthcare sector is further compounded by integration. Two of the largest medical scheme administrators, Discovery Health and
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Be careful when ordering meals at fast food restaurants in Uitenhage – Health inspectors closed down 36 restaurants

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Be careful when ordering meals at fast food restaurants in Uitenhage - Health inspectors closed down 36 restaurants

During a blast raid by inspectors in Uitenhage, 36 fast food outlets were closed down due to non-compliance with municipal regulations. At a certain diner, the toilet was situated in the kitchen, while stocks in some places were already beyond the expiry date, which was already in 2015. It appears that most of the diners..
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The maddening state of Gauteng’s psychiatric facilities

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A massive shortages of hospital beds for psychiatric patients in Gauteng is compromising patient care.

Gauteng is short of about 2700 psychiatric beds which means that psychiatric patients have to be admitted to general wards where there is no security, thus posing a threat both to themselves and others.

This was revealed recently by Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa in a 22-page statement handed to the Gauteng Legislature in response to questions about the state of psychiatric care for hospitalised patients.

By the time a person with a psychiatric illness is hospitalised, their symptoms are usually severe and patients may be suicidal or psychotic.

The World Health Organisation (using prevalence US figures) estimates that up to three percent of a population will have severe psychiatric conditions and need hospitalisation. This excludes figures for people with substance abuse-related disorders and post-traumatic stress – so it is likely to be an under-esti
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Swak higiëne by Thelle Mogoerane-streekhospitaal veroorsak dat babas sterf ná ’n uitbreking van ’n weerstandige Klebsiella-bakterie

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Twee pasgebore babas is dood ná ’n uitbreking van ’n weerstandige Klebsiella-bakterie in die Thelle Mogoerane-streekhospitaal in Vosloorus aan die Oos-Rand.

Klebsiella-longontsteking is in die hospitaal se neonatale-eenheid geïdentifiseer.

Lesemang Matuka, woordvoerder van die Gautengse departement van gesondheid, sê sewe gevalle van Klebsiella-longontsteking is in Julie geïdentifiseer “en het ongelukkig tot die sterfte van twee babas gelei”.

Monsters is geneem en is na die laboratorium gestuur om die bron van die siekte vas te stel.

Die hospitaal het sedertien maatreëls getref om infeksievoorkoming en -beheer te versterk en die eenheid noukeurig te monitor.

“Die departement beplan om ’n provinsiale taakspan te saam te stel wat deur ’n neonatoloog gelei word om deurlopend te kyk na die maatreëls om moontlike toekomstige infeksies in al ons geriewe te voorkom,” het prof. Mkhululi Lukhele, departementshoof, wat Woensdagoggend die hosp
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Google search adds medical quiz to help diagnose depression.

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Google has integrated a medially-certified quiz into its search results to help users determine whether they have depression.

Users in the United States who search Google for depression or clinical depression will now be greeted with a link labelled “Check if you are clinically depressed”.

The link opens an integrated PHQ-9 questionnaire, which helps to identify levels of depressive symptoms.

It is important to note that the PHQ-9 quiz is not meant to act as a standalone diagnostic tool, but it can help users to identify symptoms.

Google said users should consult a medical professional for an in-depth diagnosis to determine if they have clinical depression.

Take the test here!

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Let’s have a look at 5 things you shouldn’t do to heal a wound

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From applying wine and beer to a scratch to using ants to bite and seal a cut – humans have tried almost anything to accelerate the healing of wounds over the centuries.

We’ve come a long way since then, but we still don’t always get it right when it comes to caring for our wounds.

Most people still have a scar somewhere from a childhood fall or a soccer match gone wild, but the right treatment could have accelerated healing by up to 50% and reduced the risk of scarring, says Dr. Rainer Wolber from Beiersdorf AG’s Research & Development Centre.

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Here are 5 things not to do when taking care of a wound.

1. Don’t leave your wound to air-dry
If y
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Hospitaal in De Aar word leeg gesteel en gevandaliseer terwyl die departement van gesondheid skynbaar niks daaraan doen nie

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Die ou Karoo Sentraal-hospitaal in De Aar in die Noord-Kaap word glo al maande lank bedags en snags “leeggesteel” en gevandaliseer terwyl die departement van gesondheid skynbaar niks daaraan doen nie.

Die waskamer se toerusting is gesteel of gevandaliseer, sê inwoners.
Hospitaal in De Aar word leeg gesteel en gevandaliseer terwyl die departement van gesondheid skynbaar niks daaraan doen nie

Só sê Martin Barnard wat in Visserstraat naby die hospitaal woon.

Dié hospitaal het in onbruik geraak sedert die nuwe De Aar-hospitaal ’n paar jaar gelede oopgemaak is.
Die skade moet al derduisende rande beloop, en dit word net nie gestuit nie, sê Barnard.

“Ek is geskok. Ons inwoners voel nou self bedreig. In die afgelope m
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Nearly 2 million will lose private healthcare if tax reform happens

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The government’s plan to ditch medical aid tax credits will have a disastrous effect on already cash-strapped South Africans and force nearly 2 million people onto the over-stretched state health system.

If the tax credit is removed, 22% of medical aid users will not be able to afford cover, Stellenbosch economics consultancy Econex warned in a report published on Friday – 1.9 million of the 8 million medical aid members, including children, will have to drop out of the private healthcare system.

In a national health insurance policy document released in July, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said he wanted to remove the tax credit to users, which amounts to R20-billion a year.

Medical aid schemes’ members get a tax reduction of R3,636 a year – or R303 a month. Motsoaledi said then that “the tax credit … we believe, is unfair”.

Economist Paula Armstrong, author of the Econex analysis, said the rebate was intended to “alleviate some pressure on the state [
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Time to develop new malaria drugs before its too late

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It has been more than a century since Ronald Ross discovered that the female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria. In the interim, the world has made unbelievable strides in the fight against malaria. But both the mosquito and the malaria parasite are wily foes with the ability to develop resistance against the tools we use against them.

A recent study, Malaria Futures for Africa (MalaFA), questioned malaria leaders in 14 African countries about their views on the fight against malaria. The report revealed that many of them are highly concerned about resistance to artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) emerging. The early stages of resistance to ACTs, the current standard treatment recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) against malaria, have emerged in Southeast Asia and been observed in several countries there.

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AI (Artificial Intelligence) doctors and engineers are coming – but they won’t be stealing high-skill jobs

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Google recently successfully put its DeepMind artificial intelligence system to work recognising eye diseases. With AI also being used to diagnose cancer, and the launch of AI-driven smartphone apps that can discuss symptoms and triage patients, it might sound like we’re not too far from the creation of a fully fledged AI doctor.

Similar progress is being made putting AI to work writing software and evaluating legal contracts. AI has even started to make its mark in the creative world, generating artworks and fashion, evaluating graphic design, and helping people to create music. So does AI pose a threat to highly skilled jobs in the same way it does to ones that involve simple, repetitive tasks?

New technology has been making workers redundant for hundreds of years. But advances in the various industrial revolutions have also always created other new jobs, and people have been able to adapt. In the end, successful technologies were those where human and machine
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Tygerberg Hospital performs its first deep brain stimulation

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A man with tardive dystonia became the first adult to undergo deep brain stimulation (DBS) at a Western Cape state hospital. His condition drastically improved following the procedure at Tygerberg.

Until now it had only been performed on a few children at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

The dystonia was a side effect of an anti-psychopathic medication prescribed to the patient for bipolar disorder. However, the dystonia persisted after the medication was discontinued. By the time the DBS operation was performed, the patient had already been confined to bed for six months.

The operation was performed by Dr Armin Gretschel, a neurosurgeon with Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS). The equipment was provided by Medtronic.

According to Gretschel, two very thin electrodes were implanted in the globus pallidus on both sides of the brain to block the electrical impulses causing the movement disorder. Healthy brain tissue is n
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Edenvale hospitaal erg gevandaliseer deur ontevrede pasiënte

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Sekere dele van die Sizwe hospitaal in Edenvale is erg beskadig deur ‘n brand wat deur ontevrede pasiënte aangerig is.

Die aanleiding daartoe was dat ‘n verpleegster dwelms en drank gekonfiskeer het wat pasiënte ingesmokkel het. Dit het hulle woedend gemaak.

Hulle het daarop deur die hospitaal beweeg en enigiets wat breekbaar was, gebreek. Die gebou is erg gevandaliseer en die kombuis en ruskamers is skynbaar totaal vernietig.

Die hospitaal spesialiseer in die behandeling van vigs en tuberkulose.

Foto – Die Sizwe Tropiese Siektes Hospitaal, in ‎Edenvale, Johannesburg.
Die Vryburger, 22-08-2017

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Supply of medicine during strike by Sahpra will continue

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The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) says it has developed contingency plans to ensure that its essential services are not disrupted during the ongoing protest action by the employees of the Department of Health.

Sahpra, which was established in February 2018 to replace the Medicines Control Council (MCC) as South Africa’s regulatory authority, continues with its work to ensure that health products available to the public are safe, effective and of good quality.

As the authority transitions from the MCC to Sahpra, it continues to be housed with the department employees in the Civitas building in Pretoria.

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