Your Health

 

A Gauteng hospital to be rebuilt for R1.3 billion

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Civil society organisations say that the cash-strapped province should rather save money and renovate the abandoned Kempton Park hospital.

Not only will the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development spend R127-milion to demolish the derelict Kempton Park Hospital, formerly known as Khayalami, they are planning to rebuild it for a whopping R1.3-billion.

This decision has been criticised by civil society organisations, who say the cash-strapped province should rather renovate the abandoned hospital and not waste money. The DA has promised to “closely monitor” the process.

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Costs ‘closely matched’

Defending their decision on why they could not renovate the Ekur
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Looking at some South Africa hospital horrors

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South Africa´s recent spate of hospital horror stories and the sharp rise in cases of medical negligence are disturbing with medical negligence claims against provincial the country´s Health Departments increasing by around 25 per cent per year between 2011 and 2016.

This is according to Kirstie Haslam, partner at DSC Attorneys who says that the Gauteng Department of Health, (South Africa´s wealthiest province) receives a particularly staggering number of negligence claims each year. Since January 2015, it has been forced to pay out more than R1.017 billion ($US74 million) to settle 185 medical negligence claims.

“Deteriorating conditions in state hospitals, as well as incompetence and gross negligence on the part of staff members, are at the root of these claims – the vast majority of which were ruled in favour of the plaintiffs,” Haslam explains.

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It’s now 90 years ago that Penicillin was discovered – and despite resistance, the future looks good for antibiotics

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When the NHS turned 70 this year, I was reminded of another anniversary which has had an enormous impact on healthcare over many years. Penicillin is 90 this year.

Discovered in September 1928 by Alexander Fleming, it was first used as a cure when George Paine treated eye infections with it in 1930. A method for mass production was devised by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain in 1940, and it was first mass produced in 1942, with half of that total supply used for one patient being treated for streptococcal septicaemia.

In 1944, 2.3m doses were produced in time for the Normandy landings of World War II. And it was then that the miracle of penicillin became clear. Soldiers who had previously died from septicaemia were surviving.

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CANCER:- Micorocoil localisation in treating early-stage lung cancer

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A breakthrough minimally invasive surgery technique, microcoil localisation, allows doctors to pinpoint and remove tiny nodules in early-stage lung cancer without damaging additional healthy tissue.

“Rather than cutting out an entire lobe, or potentially even an entire lung, we can just take out a small bit of tissue,” said Dr Jason Lempel, a thoracic radiologist at Cleveland Clinic in the United States. “We’re able to treat patients with early-stage lung cancers quickly and thus decrease the chance of the cancer spreading.”

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Cleveland Clinic is one of a handful of medical centre to offer the surgery. A review of the team’s first 20 cases has revealed a 100% success rate in retr
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Constitutional Court Ruling:- You can get high now in private

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In a unanimous judgement, the Constitutional Court on Tuesday ordered that the private consumption and cultivation of cannabis be decriminalised.

As judgement was being handed down, the court was filled with cheers of “Ganga” from public gallery.

It has been a long journey for Gareth Prince, one of the applicants in the matter, who began his fight against the criminalisation of cannabis over two decades ago, arguing that it was inconsistent with his constitutional freedom of religion as a Rastafarian.

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Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo handed down the judgement, which confirmed that sections 4(b) and 5(b) of the Drugs and Drugs Trafficking read in part with section 22(A)(9)(a)(i) of
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You can get high now in private says the Constitutional Court

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In a unanimous judgment, the Constitutional Court on Tuesday ordered that the private consumption and cultivation of cannabis be decriminalised.
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How to save on your medical aid

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JOHANNESBURG – Medical aid schemes. The essential but expensive line item in a monthly budget for the less than 20 percent of South Africans who can afford medical aid cover.

John October, Chief Executive of online insurance and financial comparison website, Hippo.co.za, says in many cases people are forced into medical aid schemes.
“Many have to take compulsory schemes through their employers or have the need for specific medical care or treatment that they cannot afford as an out-of-pocket expense.”

There are ways to minimise the cost of medical cover. How? Ask yourself the following questions:

Have you compared the costs and benefits you are currently receiving with other service providers? Maybe you are paying too much for the same cover.
What are your health requirements for the next year? Are you covered if you know you are planning to start a family? If not you could be charged extra at a later stage.

Are your dependents old enough to pay for
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New drug approved:- Cipla’s new triple-combination antiretroviral drug approved

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The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has approved Cipla’s latest first-line triple-combination antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for HIV.

The new combination medicine commonly referred to as TLD, is a combination of tenofovir (TDF), lamivudine (3TC) and dolutegravir (DTG).

In future, TLD will be manufactured at Cipla’s facilities in Durban and Uganda, reinforcing Cipla’s commitment to produce medicines in Africa for Africa and ensuring more affordable treatment for patients.

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Head of Manufacturing for Cipla South Africa, Ajay Kumar Pal, said the reason for the new formulation complexity related to the three different processes required for the three active pharm
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Will artificial intelligence change the face of patient care? The question remains … How!!

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There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will change the way healthcare is managed and delivered, particularly in helping patients in tangible and life-saving ways.

A recent Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) report found that the potential for both AI and robotics in healthcare is vast and that they are increasingly becoming immersed in the modern healthcare system. They allow for more seamless treatments, better decision making for doctor and patient alike, more effective diagnoses and even early detection of diseases.

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Dispensing medication

“A superb example of how AI is changing the face of healthcare on the ground level is in the prescr
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Faking an Illness:- This is how doctors can spot it!

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It’s one thing to cough and sniff in front of your parents or boss, but you need to realise that it’s a completely different matter to fake an illness to an actual doctor.

Most of us have faked a cough and sniffle to get out of going to school or work for a day. However, it usually does not involve lying to a doctor and faking symptoms to legitimize your sick leave.

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Medical Implants:- Germs can grow on them, but can they make you sick?

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Contrary to belief, implants are not completely sterile. When you insert a foreign body into the human body, you create a new habitat for bacteria.

Bacteria and fungi grow on medical implants, such as hip and knee replacements, pacemakers and screws used to fix broken bones, researchers report.

In a new study, Danish investigators examined 106 implants of different types and the surrounding tissue in patients. The findings showed that 70% of the implants had been colonised by bacteria, fungi or both.

However, none of the patients with bacteria or fungi on implants showed signs of infection, according to the team at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Hospices close doors nationwide after funding cuts: Dying of the light

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Hospice isn’t just a place to die but funding cuts – and that perception – could be killing our chances of a kinder death as refuges close. The morning sun cuts through half-open blinds and filters into a deserted ward at HospiceWits, the Soweto branch.

Outside, the August wind chases dust around the property.

The rays illuminate a room with five single beds. Bright orange curtains — once drawn to give patients and their families privacy — are roughly knotted or draped over the rails around each bed.

Against the wall above a small porcelain basin, a frozen clock reads 12:40.

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It’s been like that for more than a year.

“We had to retrench more than 20 people,” she says
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“Fake Food is Fake News” – Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi

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Eight months after it began, South Africa’s listeriosis outbreak – the largest the world had ever seen – is officially over. But the nation’s alleged spate of “fake food”? Well, that may have been more hype than fact, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed at a Pretoria press conference on Monday.

The foodborne bacteria, which can thrive in cold meats and unpasteurised dairy products, had claimed at least 218 lives as of July, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases statistics (NICD). The NICD eventually discovered the bug at 158 factories, all but nine of which were visited by health inspectors. Ultimately, more than 12,000 tons of food were recalled and destroyed, Motsoaledi said.

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Recruitment of mental healthcare practitioners in EC – R10m

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In a bid to address mental healthcare in the Eastern Cape Health Department, the ministry has announced that a budget of R10m has been set aside to recruit health practitioners.

“The plan includes recruitment of mental healthcare practitioners and expanding scope of mental health service providers to include community-based mental healthcare programme.

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“A budget of R10m has been budgeted for recruitment of mental healthcare practitioners for this financial year. The appointments will be made before the end of the current financial year,” said the provincial Health MEC Helen Sauls-August.

For the current financial year, the department said it will focus on recruiting psychologists
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Aaron Motsoaledi – The outbreak of listeriosis is over

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Grocery stores have been given the green light to once again stock processed meat on shelves and pack them in lunch boxes. This comes almost six months after polony and other ready-to-eat processed meats were declared no-go areas by the Department of Health.

“A team of World Health Organisation (WHO) international and local experts [have] agreed that because no cases of listeriosis due to the outbreak strain have been identified since the first week of June 2018 and that over the last two months the incidence rate of laboratory-confirmed listeriosis cases has dropped to pre-outbreak levels, the outbreak of listeriosis is over,” said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

While processed meats were officially given the clear at a media briefing on Monday, Motsoaledi warned the public that listeria is still a reality.

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