It’s the age of austerity and it’s bad news for doctors, nurses and patients alike — unless the state can do more with less.
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Let’s have a look at why doctors and nurses are facing unemployment
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Some researchers discover the brain cells that make pain unpleasant
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If you step on a tack, neurons in your brain will register two things: that there’s a piercing physical sensation in your foot, and that it’s not pleasant. Now, a team of scientists at Stanford University has identified a bundle of brain cells in mice responsible for the latter – that is, the negative emotions of pain.
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There are so many complex reasons for South Africa’s organ donor shortage
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At any given time, there are around 4,300 people waiting for organ donations in South Africa. These patients usually need new livers, kidneys, lungs or hearts. But organ donors are in very short supply.
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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
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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.
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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?
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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.
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Government health care system a disgrace – Elderly man from Sasolburg fear for his life after told to only come back to Boitumelo Regional Hospital in 2020 for much needed surgery
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A 61-year-old Sasolburg man has been left angered and fearing for his life after being told he has to wait until 2020 before he can have surgery at a hospital in Kroonstad to treat his debilitating condition. Joseph Morake had already waited seven months for November 30, the initial date of surgery given to him..
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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.
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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.
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