The World Health Organization says the number of people with tuberculosis has fallen for the first time. In a report issued, the WHO estimated 8.8 million people fell ill last year, dropping from a peak of about 9 million in 2005. Officials said fewer people are now dying from the disease, but that a third
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said private healthcare was a brutal system because it had commercialized an essential service. “How can we run such a brutal system… the government will not fold its arms when there is such rampant commercialisation in the healthcare sector,” he said at a general practitioners’ meeting in Durban. He said the use of
Malpractice concerns influence many testing decisions, US physicians say. When it comes to medical care, nearly half of US primary care physicians believe their own patients are over-treated. A national mail survey of 627 doctors randomly selected from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile showed that 42% believe patients in their own practice get too
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), like diabetes, cause a quarter of deaths in South Africa, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said. “Globally, deaths due to NCDs are projected to increase by 17% over the next 10 years, but the greatest increase of 24% is expected in the African region,” he said in Johannesburg. He reported that a non-communicable disease summit
Synthetic drugs have overtaken heroin and cocaine to become the second most widely consumed drugs in the world, the UN office on drugs and crime (UNODC) reported. “After cannabis, ATS (amphetamine-type stimulants) are the second most widely used drugs across the globe, outstripping the use of heroin or cocaine,” the UN agency said in its annual ATS report. Amphetamine-type
“One World, One Home, One Heart.” This is the theme for World Heart Day on 29 September 2011. The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) is challenging all South Africans to do just one thing to improve the health of their heart during Heart Awareness Month in September. How many of us spare a thought for
The rate of new HIV infections in South Africa, which has one of the world’s largest case loads with nearly one in 10 infected, is growing faster than prevention efforts, the deputy president said. “The rate of new infections continues to outpace our prevention efforts, and thus prevention programmes will be prioritised in the new national strategic
Coffee has been shown to reduce the risk of skin cancer by helping to kill off damaged cells that could otherwise turn into tumours, according to a US study. The findings indicate that moderate caffeine drinking, or perhaps even applying coffee to the skin, could be useful in warding off non-melanoma cancer, the most commonly diagnosed of all skin
Boozy lunches, suspiciously long bathroom breaks, another day “off sick”. Most drug abusers are employed – and some jobs carry a heavier risk than others. “Substance abuse in the South African workforce is on the rise,” says Ronelle Sartor, executive officer at the South African Association for Social Workers in Private Practice (SAASWIPP). The common
“Microwave ovens will kill you!” Or so they say… If you’ve ever surfed the internet for information on health and nutrition, there’s little doubt you’ve come across scare stories about microwave ovens. Online natural health “experts” claim that microwaves will “zap” your food, deplete it of important nutrients and alter its molecular structure in dangerous