Globally, noncommunicable diseases were responsible for 70% of deaths in 2015, up from 60% in 2000. Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death accounting for 8.8 million deaths in 2015, followed by stroke (6.2 million deaths) and lower respiratory infections (3.2 million deaths). Communicable (infectious) diseases, on the other hand, were the cause..
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Is SA’s healthcare getting better?
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The maddening state of Gauteng’s psychiatric facilities
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A massive shortages of hospital beds for psychiatric patients in Gauteng is compromising patient care. Gauteng is short of about 2700 psychiatric beds which means that psychiatric patients have to be admitted to general wards where there is no security, thus posing a threat both to themselves and others. This was revealed recently by Gauteng..
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Google search adds medical quiz to help diagnose depression.
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Google has integrated a medially-certified quiz into its search results to help users determine whether they have depression. Users in the United States who search Google for depression or clinical depression will now be greeted with a link labelled “Check if you are clinically depressed”. The link opens an integrated PHQ-9 questionnaire, which helps to..
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Nearly 2 million will lose private healthcare if tax reform happens
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The government’s plan to ditch medical aid tax credits will have a disastrous effect on already cash-strapped South Africans and force nearly 2 million people onto the over-stretched state health system. If the tax credit is removed, 22% of medical aid users will not be able to afford cover, Stellenbosch economics consultancy Econex warned in..
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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..
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Edenvale hospitaal erg gevandaliseer deur ontevrede pasiënte
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Sekere dele van die Sizwe hospitaal in Edenvale is erg beskadig deur ‘n brand wat deur ontevrede pasiënte aangerig is. Die aanleiding daartoe was dat ‘n verpleegster dwelms en drank gekonfiskeer het wat pasiënte ingesmokkel het. Dit het hulle woedend gemaak. Hulle het daarop deur die hospitaal beweeg en enigiets wat breekbaar was, gebreek. Die..
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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..
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Medical software crippled by recent cyber attack
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Many doctors still can’t use a transcription service made by Nuance Communications Inc. three weeks after the company was hit by a powerful, debilitating computer attack. Hospital systems including Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said eScription, a Nuance staple product that allows physicians to dictate notes from a..
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No Bone Scanner for Cancer patients at Livingstone Hospital due to tax glitch
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A tender given to a company which had a tax glitch has resulted in hundreds of state cancer patients waiting months for bone scans, with some so desperately in need they were put on buses to the Western Cape. The standoff due to the tax issue has brought the construction of a special bunker for..
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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..
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