Your Health

 

A new Prostate treatment byproduct could accelerate cancer cell growth

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New research out of the United States points to a genetic anomaly in certain men with prostate cancer, which may impact their response to common drugs used to treat the disease.

Researchers found that abiraterone, a common prostate cancer drug, yields high levels of a testosterone-like byproduct in men with advanced disease who have a specific genetic variant.

The study’s lead researcher, Dr Nima Sharifi, who is based at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, previously discovered that men with aggressive prostate cancer who have a specific variant in the HSD3B1 gene have poorer outcomes than patients without the variant. HSD3B1 encodes an enzyme that allows cancer cells to use adrenal androgens for fuel. This enzyme is overactive in patients with the variant HSD3B1(1245C).

Sharifi and his team in the Department of Cancer Biology, including first author, Dr Mohammad Alyamani, found that men with the genetic anomaly metabolise abiraterone differently
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Resident allegedly turned away from clinic because she’s ‘white’

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The metro has denied claims that Yolanda Ferencak’s children were turned away from Birchleigh North Clinic because they are white.

“The acting manager interviewed all the personnel at Birchleigh North Clinic. They indicated that none of them saw or sent away any patient or referred them to Birchleigh Clinic,” said Themba Gadebe, the metro’s spokesperson.

Ferencak from Terenure told Express that her 25-year-old daughter had taken her 11-month-old boy for immunisation injections at the clinic on July 4 when they were allegedly denied service.

“When my daughter got to the clinic she said a woman told her they did not assist white people and that it was a blacks-only clinic,” said Ferencak.

“Because they needed to go to a clinic, they then went to Birchleigh Clinic where they were assisted and a file for the baby was opened.”

“Racial preference or remarks are not tolerated and serious actions will be taken, should it occur,” said Gadebe.
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Poor health services are holding back UHC – Universal Health Coverage

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Inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack training prevail in countries of all income levels.

This poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health, according to a new joint report by the OECD, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank.

The situation is worst in low and middle-income countries where 10% of hospitalised patients can expect to acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to 7% in high income countries. This is despite hospital acquired infections being easily avoided through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.. At the same time, one in 10 patients is harmed during medical treatment in high income countries.

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Making vaccines ubiquitous is the key to cracking the cold chain challenge

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Over the years vaccines have prevented countless cases of disease and saved millions of lives. Infectious diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), smallpox, mumps, tetanus and rotavirus used to be common around the world. Today vaccines can prevent them.

Despite this, one in five children in the world aren’t fully protected by even the most basic vaccines. In addition, almost 20 million are at risk of contracting preventable diseases because they are under-vaccinated. As a result about 1.5 million children die every year from diseases that can be prevented by vaccination coverage.

One of the main reasons is that there are many rural areas in the world that don’t have reliable power supplies. Vaccines need to be kept at particular temperatures, usually refrigerated, to remain effective. Cold chain conditions aren’t possible without power. A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain that runs fr
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We must ensure new food retail technologies are to better health pathways not barriers

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Imagine a world where smart pantries sense when you are running out of your favourite food and order more of it, without you lifting a finger. Where intelligent robots roam your grocery store, ever at your service. Where dynamic food pricing changes minute-to-minute depending on the weather outside, or what the store down the road is offering.

It may sound like a seismic shift in our food retail world, but these technological frontiers are real and the food sector is gearing up in a big way.

What is less certain is what impact such changes will have on our health. Just as entrepreneurs must capitalise on future trends when building a business, health professionals must delve into the future of retail technology to identify barriers and opportunities for the achievement of good health.

The retail technology frontier is already here

Amazon is one company leading the way with its nascent attempts to revolutionise convenient shopping.

Amazo
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North West Health MEC working to recoup Mediosa money

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The North West Health MEC, Dr Magome Masike, says the department is working towards recouping taxpayers’ money lost to mobile clinic, Mediosa.

“First, the company sent us an invoice of R24m out of the R30m pre-payment. We need to satisfy ourselves that the [work for] R24m has been done by going through the report, which goes up to the end of January 2018.

“Then we still need a report for February 2018, which covers the work done for the outstanding R6m. Until we satisfy ourselves with the work that has been done, we are not settled with Mediosa,” said the MEC.

According to Masike, the company recently sent out tow trucks to collect the mobile health units stationed at Madibogo in the Ratlou sub-district and Kagisano Molopo respectively.

With plans underway to recoup the lost tax money, Masike raised concerns about the claims made by Mediosa about the number of patients serviced.

“My concern is the number of people that Mediosa is claiming to have
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South African Medical Association takes issue with Competition Commission findings

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The South African Medical Association (Sama) believes that the Competition Commission Health Market Inquiry (HMI) provisional report is faulty in its findings, particularly that doctors increase demand for unnecessary services.

In a statement, the association says that in light of the fact that the investigation took almost four years to complete and runs to hundreds of pages, it is, on first review, somewhat disappointed in the overall analysis of the private healthcare sector.

Doctor-induced moral hazard

Sama is particularly concerned about the allegations that doctors increase demand of unnecessary services, including increased admissions to hospitals, says chairperson, Dr Mzukisi Grootboom.

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You might ask the following question regarding the NHI:- Will I be able to opt out of the NHI?

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In June, the health minister released the long-awaited National Health Insurance Bill. What does it mean to you and your medical aid? We tell you.

1. Will you be able to say “thanks, but no thanks”?

If the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill is passed in its current form, the NHI will be compulsory, regardless of whether you also belong to a private medical aid. So, opting out won’t be possible. The Bill says the NHI, which will be like a big, state-funded medical scheme, will be a free service, but it doesn’t tell us what benefits will be covered, how the scheme will be paid for or how much it will cost.

2. When will the NHI start, and, will it actually happen?

The NHI Bill says the scheme will be implemented in three phases — we’re currently in the second phase (2017 – 2022), during which NHI legislation has to be developed and the NHI fund has to be established. During the last phase, from 2022 – 2026, Cabinet
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Health Market Inquiry:- calls for medical aid schemes to be transparent

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A report by the Health Market Inquiry (HMI) looking into the private healthcare industry has recommended that there be increased transparency and improved competition.

The HMI released its provisional report on Thursday after hearing evidence from a number of stakeholders in the past three years.

The inquiry, which is chaired by the ex-Chief Justice, Sandile Ngcobo, was set up to look into the costs of healthcare and the operations of medical schemes.

“Overall we recommend changes to the way scheme options are structured to increase comparability between schemes and increase competition in that market.

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“A system to increase transparency on health outcomes to allow for value purch
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You are paying more for less when it comes to medical aid, does it make sense. Here’s why.

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What are your chances of ending up in a hospital? Higher than you’d think if you are a medical aid member in a large city — and the reason reveals some never-before-seen truths about the country’s private healthcare sector.

A lack of competition within the private healthcare market is fuelling an epidemic of overtreatment — and mystery medical bills — in South Africa, the Competition Commission revealed on Thursday.

As part of a four-year investigation into private healthcare costs, the Competition Commission looked at hospital admission rates among patients treated in nine specialised areas of medicine. People who had insurance and lived near more hospitals were more likely to be admitted than people with similar conditions that lived farther away from lots of empty beds, the statutory body found.

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Comment on the NHI Bills presented by Health Minister

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Bonitas Medical Fund welcomes the draft amendment Bill to the end that it aims to make healthcare more accessible.

“While in principle we support the actions of the government and applaud them for taking proactive measures to improve the quality of national healthcare in South Africa, we have reservations and concerns around some of the proposed amendments. And this not only in respect of representing private medical schemes,” says Kenneth Marion, COO of Bonitas Medical Fund.

The universal National Health Insurance Bill proposed by The Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as ‘universal health coverage means people will receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship’.

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Fixing an ailing system, South Africa’s universal health care plan falls short

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South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has finally gazetted the bill detailing an ambitious plan to roll out universal health care in the country through a National Health Insurance.

The bill responds to a global campaign spearheaded by the World Health Organisation and linked to the UN’s sustainable development goals to make sure that no-one is left behind in accessing quality health care.

There’s no dispute that South Africa’s health care system needs major reforms. There are considerable inequities in health care between urban and rural areas; between public and private health sectors and between primary health care and hospital care. And the country has a complex disease burden with heavy caseloads of HIV, TB and non-communicable diseases.

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Medical Schemes amendments could threaten schemes’ sustainability

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While the proposed amendments to the Medical Schemes Act seek to lower the cost of private healthcare, they may have the unintended consequence of threatening the sustainability of medical schemes.

The amendments look at abolishing the practice of copayments on certain benefits, removing waiting periods and prescribed minimum benefits and tapping into the reserves medical schemes are required to hold.

These provisions in isolation could affect the financial stability of medical aids, says Lerato Mosiah, CEO: Health Funders Association (HFA). “Whilst we welcome the dialogue in the sector, it is critical that this takes into consideration the broader picture and context. It is thus important to understand that medical schemes utilise risk management measures in order to ensure that they remain viable.

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Travelling abroad – Consider this advice before you leave

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I will never forget the first Canadian medical tourist I interviewed. I was gripped when this person told me about travelling abroad for invasive surgery, accompanied by their spouse. While in India, this spouse required emergency surgery to address a chronic condition that had worsened.

This situation sounded so distressing and the researcher in me wondered: Could the mental and physical stress of caregiving in an unfamiliar, international context have negatively impacted the spouse’s health to the point that surgery was required?

There are many reasons why patients opt to seek health care abroad. In some cases, it is because they cannot access timely surgery locally. In others, they are seeking an experimental procedure that is not available at home, such as an unapproved stem cell therapy.

For most of the last decade I have been involved in extensively studying medical tourism. I have spoken with patients, policy-makers, doctors, nurses, tourism official
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Technology – Egyptian e-health startup ElBalto launches mobile consultation service

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Egyptian startup ElBalto has launched a mobile application that provides users with easy, reliable, timely and affordable online video consultations via a network of customer-rated and licensed doctors.

Video consultations offered on ElBalto will initially be available in the specialisations of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Nutrition and Gynecology, while the startup will also offer home visits in areas like Orthopedics and Cardiology.

“Currently, Egypt is suffering from a significant imbalance in the health workforce distribution, with doctors concentrated in the big cities and urban settings,” said co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Mahmoud Abdalla.

“I was personally inspired when I became a father and had to go with my wife and newborn every other week for a doctor’s appointment to get answers to very basic questions, or to follow up on treatment. We were both struggling with time, effort, cost and logistics, let alone the inconvenience if we wo
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