Posts tagged with 'Health'

 

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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Robot-aided surgery now available in Eastern Cape Province

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The first robot-assisted surgeries to treat prostate cancer in the Eastern Cape were performed by Netcare Greenacres urologists Dr Hannes Brummer and Dr Johan Coetzee this week following the installation of the Da Vinci Si robotic surgical system at the hospital.

Similar robotic systems have been installed at Netcare hospitals in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.

Coetzee and Brummer have been training in South Africa and Europe to perform robot-assisted surgery.

Netcare hospital division managing director Jacques du Plessis said that after robotic surgery systems had been introduced in other provinces there had been an increased number of referrals from other provinces.

“We have now brought the technology and capacity for robotic-assisted procedures to the Eastern Cape.

“We identified a need for the intricate and highly complex interventions the Da Vinci Si system enables trained surgeons to achieve,” he said.

Netcare Greenacres Hospital general man
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Kind in Wes-Kaap dood aan witseerkeel

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’n 10-jarige meisie van die Nomzamo-township naby die Strand is dood en drie familielede is besmet met die hoogs aansteeklike bakteriële siekte witseerkeel, het die Wes-Kaapse gesondheidsdepartement Maandag bevestig.

Die meisie het op 3 Augustus positief getoets vir die siekte en is die volgende dag dood “weens die erns van die siekte”, sê Mark van der Heever, woordvoerder van die departement.

Die siekte is ook by die meisie se ma en twee sibbe gediagnoseer nadat die departement al haar gesinslede getoets het in ’n poging om die verdere verspreiding te keer.

Hulle het medikasie en entstowwe gekry,” sê Van der Heever.

“Meer as 600 individue is in hierdie spesifieke gemeenskap ingeënt,” sê hy.

Volgens die Wêreldgesondheidsorganisasie is 30 000 gevalle van witseerkeel en 3 000 sterftes wêreldwyd in 2000 aangemeld, in vergelyking met byna 100 000 infeksies in 1980.

Hulle het medikasie en entstowwe gekry,” sê Van der Heever.

MEER
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Could you have hepatitis and not know it?

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According to the World Health Organisation, Africa has one of the highest hepatitis infection rates in the world. Sadly, many people are unaware they have it.

Hepatitis affects 60 million people in Africa. Worldwide, an estimated 325 million people are living with chronic hepatitis-B virus (HBV) or hepatitis-C virus (HCV) infections.

What makes this particularly concerning is that many are unaware that they have hepatitis and are at risk of a slow progression to chronic liver disease, cancer and even death.

What is hepatitis?

Hepatitis is an inflammatory disease of the liver. The condition can be self-limiting or can progress to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or cancer.

The most common cause of hepatitis is due to infection by one of the hepatitis viruses but it can be caused by other infections, medication, alcohol, toxic substances and certain autoimmune diseases.

What are the different hepatitis viruses?

There
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Attack on doctors at public hospitals in South Africa sparks security concerns

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The South African Medical Association (Sama), and its Eastern Cape branch, has condemned the lack of proper security at public hospitals in the province after a doctor was assaulted by a patient.

Dr Archie Solombela sustained a fracture to his right arm and a general worker was also hurt during the attack by a psyciatric patient at the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in East London. According to a report in the Daily Dispatch, suspected mentally ill patients are being admitted to general wards for observation, and because resources are so thinly stretched at government hospitals in the province this takes much longer than the standard 72 hours.

This is an unacceptable situation which requires urgent attention,” Sama said in a statement. “Of concern now is why no precautionary measures were put in place, considering the patient has a known violent history. This indicates either a lack of proper planning and coordination, or a lack of will to ensure the safety of hea
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Doctors Sound Alarm That SA Mental Healthcare Is Collapsing

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While almost all the previous Life Esidimeni psychiatric patients have been transferred from the NGOs in Gauteng back into hospitals, a group of doctors have warned that the psychiatric structure in South Africa is collapsing.

Reports reveal that in some mental health hospitals there are no psychiatrists, and none of the provinces have organised community-based psychiatric services at present. The South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) said even 150 days after the Health Ombudsman released a report, many hospitals were still facing a shortage of staff with minimal resources.

The president of the SASOP, Professor Bernard Janse van Rensburg, told Health24 that South Africa’s healthcare system is totally fragmented and broken. “Esidimeni was just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. At the beginning of this year, Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba said the death toll of mentally ill patients who were transferred from Life Esidimeni to 27 NGOs w
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Gauteng hospital shock – More than 20‚000 patients harmed due to negligence

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Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa has confirmed that more than 20‚000 patients have been harmed due to negligence in the space of two-and-a-half years at state hospitals in Gauteng.

Ramokgopa quoted the figure in a written response to questions posed in the Gauteng Legislature by Democratic Alliance MPL Jack Bloom.

When patients are harmed unintentionally‚ by an act of commission or omission rather than their underlying illness or condition‚ the incidents are recorded as “Serious Adverse Events”. There have been 20‚417 of these incidents in the province since 2016‚ to date.

“Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is the most dangerous hospital for patients in Gauteng‚ with 4‚320 recorded (incidents)‚” Bloom said in a statement on Monday.

Ramokgopa confirmed that the cases were‚ broadly speaking‚ related to “allegations of negligence‚ incompetence of staff members‚ human errors‚ secondment of patients and system failure”.

A
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Kliniek in Limpopo het glo geen medisyne vir diabete

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Geen antibiotika, hoesstroop of medisyne vir diabete nie.

Dit is van die skoktoestande waarop Lindy Wilson, nasionale DA-woordvoerder, Donderdag op ’n oorsigbesoek aan die Waterval-kliniek in die Vhembe-distrik, Limpopo, afgekom het.

Dit is ondanks 95% van die begroting van die hospitaal wat gebruik word om salarisse te betaal.

Sy het ook die Elim-hospitaal in die distrik besoek wat deur die nasionale departement van gesondheid as ’n loodsprojek vir die beoogde Nasionale Gesondheidsversekeringsplan (NGV) geoormerk is.

“Die NGV is nie lewensvatbaar nie. Hoe kan dit werk as ’n loodsprojek van die NGV misluk het?” wou sy weet.

Die Elim-hospitaal, wat 108 jaar oud is, het ernstige probleme met infrastruktuur en die dak val inmekaar.

Pfuluwani Matdozi, uitvoerende hoof van die hospitaal, het aan Wilson gesê daar is ’n groot tekort aan verpleegsters en dokters.

“Dit is ondanks 95% van die begroting van die hospitaal wat gebruik word om sal
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OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY: Five years for careless doctor

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Emalahleni gynaecologist Danie van der Walt was sentenced to five years in jail for culpable homicide after one of his patients died after giving birth.

He had earlier been found guilty of gross negligence.

Witbank magistrate Merlene Greyvenstein said Van der Walt had failed to do everything a specialist of his calibre should have done to save the life of Pamela Daweti, who bled profusely after giving birth to a baby girl, Lisakhanya, on August 11 2005.

She died a day later.

“I find that the death of the deceased could have been prevented,” Greyvenstein said.

She granted Van der Walt leave to appeal both his conviction and sentence.

Van der Walt waited in the holding cells while his family paid his R10,000 bail.

Outside court Daweti’s uncle, Lungi Daweti, expressed mixed feelings at the outcome.

“The court has done everything in its power to ensure justice was done. We appreciate that. This has taken a strain on all of us. We will now start the
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Health MEC ‘putting band aid on gaping wound of oncology crisis’

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The DA in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday renewed its call for Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo to be fired, saying it appears he is “trying to put a band aid on a large gaping wound” in respect of the province’s oncology crisis.

The DA had been advised by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) that Dhlomo had met the latest in a series of deadlines in terms of its recommendations required to address the province’s cancer crisis, DA MPL Imran Keeka said.

This followed the SAHRC’s release of a damning report in June which found Dhlomo and his department guilty of violating the rights of KwaZulu-Natal cancer patients by failing to provide proper access to treatment.

Keeka said the DA had received a copy of the MEC’s submissions from the SAHRC, which the party was currently assessing.

“On the face of it, it appears that the MEC is trying to put a band aid on a large gaping wound, with the proposals providing little in the way of concrete steps to
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How will private healthcare evolve under Universal Health Coverage (UHC)?

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With National Health Insurance, the Competition Commission investigation and sky-rocketing costs, it’s no wonder that the private healthcare sector (and the public sector for that matter) is a tad wary about what the future holds.

However, in which ever way, shape or form it manifests itself, universal health coverage (UHC) is inevitable. It forms part of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. “To promote physical and mental health and well-being and to extend life expectancy for all, we must achieve universal health coverage and access to quality healthcare. No one must be left behind. This places UHC as the target that underpins and is key to achievement of other Goal 3 targets.”

Set of goals

According to Dr Rufaro Chatora, World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative says UHC provides a set of goals rather than tell us how to organise a health system. “This is logical as each country faces different challenges
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National laboratory workers strike after negotiations stall, provinces fail to pay

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The nationwide industrial action is expected to last at least until Friday and could affect patients living with conditions such as cancer and HIV.
Workers from the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) will embark on a national strike on Wednesday after last-minute wage negotiations stalled.

NHLS managers met officials from the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA), representing laboratory workers, on Monday in an attempt to thwart nationwide industrial action. Although the NHLS and unions agreed on a 7.3% wage increase, they could not agree on workers’ benefits such as a housing allowance, medical aid and uniform allowance.

Both Nehawu and the PSA told Bhekisisa that they will strike from Wednesday after negotiations deadlocked. “They are offering us 7.3%, but with no added benefits like housing and medical aid. So we are still in dispute. The strike is [starting] tomor
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Syndicates and devious health professionals may target National Health Insurance

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Criminal networks are targeting your medical aid rands but could you be part of the problem too?

Criminal syndicates and unscrupulous doctors may be defrauding the private health sector of millions as experts warn that medical schemes may reach a breaking point.

“The health care sector is being targeted by criminal syndicates and even devious practitioners. It is a direct threat to the financial viability of medical schemes in the country, including any National Health Insurance initiative we attempt,” says medical advisor on healthcare forensics at medical aid administrator and risk management service, Medscheme Gregory Pratt. Pratt was speaking at the Board of Healthcare Funders Southern African Conference this week in Cape Town.

“The affordability of medical schemes in the country will soon reach a tipping point.”

In 2013 alone, Discovery Health recovered R300 million in fraudulent claims alone – a number that in 2014 CEO Jonathan Broomberg told
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Shortage of pathologists an inconvenience to families

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Post-mortems are mandatory to determine the cause of death. The shortage of pathologists in the country has left several distraught families stranded. The situation has resulted in the delay of conducting post-mortems. Grieving families are forced to wait much longer before burying their loved ones. One family had to have a funeral service without the..
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NHI financing model questioned by FMF

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The latest iteration of the National Health Insurance (NHI) policy paper is no closer to defining how much the scheme will cost and where the money will come from to pay for it.

Meanwhile, SA risks running out of tax payers to finance its social security commitments, said Dr Johann Serfontein, senior healthcare consultant with HealthMan and Jasson Urbach, director & head of the Free Market Foundation’s Health Policy Unit.

The NHI scheme is based on a government administered, centrally controlled, single-payer model. Healthcare decisions will be determined by government from the cradle to the grave. NHI will reduce the number of available services, mean fewer healthcare providers and patients will face long waiting lists. NHI concentrates power in the hands of government and requires it to act as both player and referee, leaving no room for the private sector. Under NHI, whether directly or indirectly, government will control the availability, financing and
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