Posts tagged with 'Medical Aid News'

 

South Africa needs stronger leadership and increased budgets in mental healthcare

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The psychiatric profession should play a greater role in advocating for patients’ rights and improving management of mental health in the public sector after a series of recent tragedies that highlighted the neglect of mental healthcare in South Africa.

Professor Bonga Chiliza, incoming South African Society of Psychiatrists (Sasop) president, says the deaths of 144 patients in the now-notorious Life Esidimeni tragedy; allegations of abuse and human rights violations at the Tower Psychiatric Hospital in the Eastern Cape; and the suicide of UCT Health Sciences Dean Prof Bongani Mayosi following his battle with depression all point to need for better management of public sector psychiatry

Therefore, the organisation will ramp up its lobbying for mental healthcare to be allocated an equitable share of the national health budget. Chiliza says Sasop would also be doing more to encourage medical students to specialise in psychiatry, in order to grow the numbers of qual
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New portable technology takes primary healthcare to the people

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Portable medical technology makes it possible to take primary healthcare to low-income populations that frequently have a disproportionate burden of ill health.

It allows mobile clinics and screening days to take healthcare services to schools and local communities that would ordinarily not have access.

Instead of expecting patients to travel to static clinics, they can be screened and diagnosed on the spot and receive preventive healthcare where they are, rather than incurring travel costs or having to take time off work. ”The South African medical environment is still in the early stages of adopting mobile solutions to preventive screening and healthcare.

“Screening for common health issues like loss of hearing or vision helps to avoid a heavier cost burden on constrained healthcare resources once the diagnosed conditions worsen,” says Dr Dirk Koekemoer, founder and CEO of eMoyo. “But this approach, when effectively managed through a collaboration betwe
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A change in birth options: What’s behind SA’s skyrocketing C-section rates?

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Almost one in four babies born at public hospitals come into the world via c-section but is it costing some women their lives?

For decades, Caesarean sections were a last resort for mothers and babies in distress. If you had access to this kind of procedure, you could count yourself among the world’s lucky.

At the dawn of the 21st century, rates of the procedure in almost all African regions save for the continent’s north dragged along at less than 5%, recently published research in The Lancetshows. Meanwhile, the continent was home to more than half of the 13 countries responsible for the majority of the world’s maternal deaths, World Health Organisation (WHO) data from the year 2000 shows.

At the same time, C-section rates in much of Asia and Eastern Europe hovered around 7%.

Almost 30-million babies will come into the world this year by Caesarean if 2015 figures are anything to go by — nearly double the number of infants delivered in this way alm
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Discovery klaarblyklik meer ingestel is op winsbejag as op dienslewering aan pasiënte – pasiënte wat by sekere hospitale inteken moet nou ‘n ekstra R5000 opdok

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Die mediese skema Discovery het op ‘n baie laat stadium aangekondig dat pasiënte wat by sekere hospitale inteken nou ‘n ekstra R5000 sal moet opdok of na ‘n goedgekeurde kliniek moet gaan.

Die reëling sal van 1 Februarie 2019 geld en doktors is glad nie gelukkig met die aankondiging nie.

Kenners wys daarop dat die mediese skema klaarblyklik meer ingestel is op winsbejag as op dienslewering aan pasiënte.

Sulke nuwe maatreëls word deur baie lede van die skema as onaanvaarbaar gevind, maar dit wil lyk of die bestuur en besluitnemers van Discovery doof geword het vir besware in die verband.

Deur: Die Vryburger
Hierdie berig weerspieël nie noodwendig die mening van SAUK-nuus nie.

______________________________
Free Medical-Aid, Hospital and Funeral Plan and Insurance Quotes at www.MedSure.co.za
______________________________
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A cancer drug offers more affordable treatment for diabetic retinopathy

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Treatment for diabetic retinopathy can be expensive, especially in low and middle-income countries such as South Africa, but a recent doctoral study at Stellenbosch University (SU) found that a relatively cheap drug called bevacizumab could be effective.

“We found that injecting bevacizumab into the eyes could help treat diabetic eye disease and prevent blindness in people living in low and middle-income countries,” says Dr Jose Fernando Arevalo, chairperson of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Bayview Medical Center in the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore in America.

Aevalo, who is also the president of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, obtained his doctorate in ophthalmology at the second ceremony of SU’s December graduation.

He says the rapid increase in the prevalence of diabetes means that by 2040 more people will be at risk of developing diabetic eye disease and therefore less ex
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Pietermaritzburg mortuary mess:- workers return to work after arrests

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The Fort Napier workers had been on a go-slow since November. They have been demanding a wage increase, back pay and better working conditions.

Seventeen employees of the Fort Napier Medico Legal Mortuary in Pietermaritzburg, who were arrested on Monday, were released with a warning on Tuesday. They were arrested after the Department of Health issued an ultimatum to workers to return to work or face arrest.

Department of Health spokesperson Ncumisa Mafunda said that on Tuesday, 16 forensic pathology staff members from Gale Street Medico Legal Mortuary in Durban had also been arrested. According to National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) provincial secretary Phakama Ndunakazi, they were released the same day.

Mortuary workers demand better pay
The Fort Napier workers had been on a go-slow since November. They have been demanding a wage increase, back pay and better working conditions.

“The 17 employees were release
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Less than 2000 state ambulances nationally may be on the road

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The national health department says it is against outsourcing emergency services. But with a grave shortage of ambulances, it may have no choice.
Just 1971 state ambulance vehicles are on the road nationally, a Bhekisisa survey reveals.

Health department guidelines say there should be at least 5 700 ambulances in operation — or one for every 10 000 people, according to standards quoted in the KwaZulu-Natal health department 2017 annual report. But with less than 2 000 actually functioning, there are only enough state emergency vehicles to cater for about a third of the population, data from provinces show.

A May audit of provincial health departments by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) found shortages of ambulances and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in several provinces.

In response, Bhekisisa requested the latest EMS vehicle and personnel numbers from all nine provinces. The Gauteng, North West, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and Eastern Cape hea
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Wonderful news, Genetics may be the key to new epilepsy therapies

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An international study has discovered 11 new genes associated with epilepsy, which greatly advances knowledge of the underlying biological causes of epilepsy and may inform the development of new treatments for the condition.

Researchers compared the DNA of more than 15,000 people with epilepsy to the DNA of 30,000 people without epilepsy. This has created a better understanding of genetic factors that contribute to the most common forms of this condition, and the results tripled the number of known genetic associations for epilepsy and implicated 11 new genes.

The majority of current anti-epileptic drugs directly target one or more of the associated genes and identified an additional 166 drugs that do the same. These drugs are promising new candidates for epilepsy therapy as they directly target the genetic basis of the disease.

“This work illustrates the power of scientists collaborating across countries and continents. Discovering these new genes for epil
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Children in South Africa’s aren’t getting the mental health care they need

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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has received increased scientific, clinical and public attention over the past few decades. It’s the most common psychiatric disorder in children – affecting 2% to 16% of the school going population.

But in South Africa data on prevalence rates, access to care, and treatment for ADHD is limited. Despite the known efficacy of treatment, access to health care and treatment remains limited for many children in the country. This is a problem as untreated ADHD results in substantial costs and has a negative impact both on educational attainment and quality of life.

We have recently completed a study that looked at the mental health barriers South African school children face. Our research focused on the work of a not for profit organisation, set up in 2017 to provide mental health screening services for school children and with a particular focus on ADHD.

Our research found a prevalence rate of 2.5% among the more th
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Be careful, your favourite birth control might put you at risk of HIV?

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We could be just months away from knowing whether Depo-Provera use is linked to a higher risk of HIV infection in women. For more than a decade, obstetrician Coceka Mnyani’s conversations with her patients followed a script.

Had they used contraceptives before? Did they want more children? What contraceptive did they plan on using after delivery and why?

“Depending on what a woman said, you would advise, you know, ‘that’s not such a great idea, have you thought about this’, ‘maybe this one would be a better option’,” Mnyani says.

“You’ve got this woman who has just had a baby, who’s tired, who has a crying infant — is she going to remember to take a pill every day?”

Health department data shows that most South African women visiting a public health facility for free contraception will leave with a shot of the three-month contraception depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate, which is most commonly sold under the name Depo-Provera. T
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The National Health Insurance (NHI): Who’s in, who’s out and how much will it cost

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The NHI was the centre of the presidential health summit. Now the pressure is mounting for Treasury to figure out how to fund it.

NEWS ANALYSIS

The health system is in crisis, government officials admit. Now, they have just weeks to produce an initial plan on how to fix it ahead of introducing a National Health Insurance (NHI), Deputy President David Mabuza revealed this weekend.

With its namesake, President Cyril Ramaphosa was absent from the presidential health summit. The gathering drew more than 100 representatives from civil society, government, unions, academia and the private sector. Prior to the event, that was held in Boksburg, each delegate received a 21-page concept note outlining challenges within the health system — this included corruption and how the NHI will incorporate the private sector.

Solutions proposed during the meeting will now form the basis for wider consultation ahead of a public plan to turn the health system.
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Why are the private sector remaining wary of universal healthcare

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Globally, one in four private healthcare groups surveyed won’t work with governments. Whether the National Health Insurance (NHI) succeeds or fails will depend on public-private partnerships. But the scheme will have to overcome more than just money woes to get the two sectors to settle old quarrels if new research is any indication.

Under the NHI, a centralised fund will procure a package of services from both the public and private sectors on behalf of South Africans. But it’s unclear how this will work and South Africa isn’t the only country trying to figure this out. Countries such as Indonesia, Egypt and Kenya are also looking to buy services from the private sector as part of the move towards universal healthcare.

But a recent survey of 20 of the world’s biggest private healthcare providers showed many remain wary of working with governments. Collectively, these companies owned 500 hospitals and 7 000 clinics across 40 low- and middle-income coun
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Oues se skokverhoging op Discovery-opsie

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Duisende pensioenarisse wat op die Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) se Keycare Plus-opsie is, moes tot hul skok hoor hul premies styg volgende jaar met sowat 47%.

Lede op die KeyCare Plus-opsie betaal premies gegrond op hul maandelikse inkomste.

Die skerp premieverhoging raak 139 000 lede wat op die laagste inkomstevlak van KeyCare Plus is. Van hulle is 19 000 ouer as 65.

’n Leser van Netwerk24 het gekla omdat haar 77-jarige ma, wat ’n maandelikse inkomste van R8 000 het, meer sal moet opdok. “Sy het vanjaar R990 per maand betaal en die premie styg volgende jaar tot R1 456, en die voordele bly dieselfde.”

Haar ma wou anoniem bly omdat sy nie wil hê mense moet weet wat haar inkomste is nie.

“My ma sit aan die hoër inkomstekant van wat al die jare Keycare se kliëntebasis was. Wat van al die ander mense wat veel minder verdien?”

Volgens haar is talle voordele tussen 2017 en 2018 weggeneem.

“Sy het natuurlik ander uitgawes ook, s
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Suid-Afrikaners is woes kwaad oor die Discovery-groep se swart aandeelhouer planne en wil van fondse verander, hoe maklik is dit egter om jou mediese fonds te verander?

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Baie Suid-Afrikaners is so warm onder die kraag oor die Discovery-groep se planne om aan swart deposante ’n 10%-belang in sy nuwe bank te gee dat hulle dreig om Discovery se mediese fonds te verlaat.

Die sangers Bobby van Jaarsveld en Steve Hofmeyr is deel van dié groep ontevredenes.

Mense wat dit oorweeg, moet hulle deeglik vergewis van die vereistes van die Wet op Mediese Skemas sodat hulle nie sonder dekking in ’n krisis gelaat word nie.

Eerstens geld ’n wagtydperk vir enige nuwe lid van ’n mediese fonds. Hoe lank dié wagtydperk is, hang af van hoe lank jy lid van jou vorige fonds was – langer of korter as twee jaar ononderbroke.

As jy langer as twee jaar lid was, geld ’n wagtydperk van drie maande, maar net as daar nie meer as 90 dae verloop tussen die lidmaatskap van die twee fondse nie.

In die drie-maande-wagtydperk moet jy die volle premie betaal, maar net eise ten opsigte van voorgeskrewe minimum voordele (VMW) en lewensbedreigende
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A DNAlysis Review for you: How DNA tests can help personalise medicine

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DNA tests have gained in popularity over the last few years. They reveal a lot about us, but the data can be overwhelming. We tried one to find out how it all works.

You’ve probably seen it somewhere. Personalised DNA tests are a big trend in medicine. Genetic tests are still a bit lowkey in South Africa, but globally, it’s a booming business.

These DNA tests can tell us a whole bunch of things.

From which diet is best, which exercise we might respond well to and, perhaps most crucially, help us understand how we process medication. It can also help us track our heritage, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on the health aspects.

Are we doomed by our genes?
Most of the outcomes are theoretical, based on correlation, not causation.

And there is some debate around whether some of this information should even be shared with consumers. The reports have loads of info on them. Some scary, some less so. Some experts fear th
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