By some measures – healthy life expectancy, obesity, and depression, among others – South Africa is the unhealthiest country on earth. That’s a sobering fact to consider. How has the country got here? To what extent can its unenviable position be regarded as a failure of primary healthcare? Primary healthcare can refer to the care..
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Why is it so important to fix primary healthcare so crucial to making South Africa healthier
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The Cofi Bill (The Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill) brings down regulatory siloes for medical scheme customers
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Healthcare sector stakeholders have long advocated for a single regulator, believing that the current dual framework creates a regulatory arbitrage not conducive to offering the consumer maximum protection. Just as the public and private healthcare sectors need to work together for South Africa to achieve universal healthcare, the same applies to government departments and regulators…
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The Special Investigating Unit wants to investigate the Health Professions Council regarding the trade of cash for qualifications?
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The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is awaiting the president’s go-ahead to investigate allegations that Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPSCA) employees may have taken bribes in exchange for medical registrations and board exam passes. HPSCA ombud Munyadziwa Kwinda recently revealed the allegations while speaking at a symposium held by the Wits Students’ Bioethics Society…
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The Health Professions Council of South Africa says you need to know about INFORMED CONSENT: The costly legal implications if it’s not done right
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The value of keeping proper written records of explanations, discussions and advice leading to the informed consent to avoid protracted legal proceedings for both doctors and patients was highlighted in the Supreme Court of Appeal judgement in the case of Beukes v Smith. The introduction to the ethical guidelines published by the Health Professions Council..
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One of the top medical aids in South Africa, Discovery Health, say they are unable to pay for dad’s life-saving cancer medication
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Medical aid giant Discovery Health says it is unable to pay for cancer medication a Hermanus father needs to save his life. And it won’t let the client of 14 years upgrade to qualify for the expensive drugs. His family has requested that his name be withheld. His youngest daughter said she felt Discovery was..
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South Africa’s medical schemes in good health, both open and restricted, according to Alexander Forbes
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South Africa’s largest medical schemes – both open and restricted – are in good shape and have sufficient reserves to pay members’ claims, according to Alexander Forbes Health’s latest edition of Diagnosis, an annual publication that analyses key trends in the medical schemes industry from 2000 to 2017. The insights were drawn from the Alexander..
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Most people ask Dr Google but be cautious here are the pros and cons of online diagnosis
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Pop symptoms of a headache into a search engine and it will come back with a myriad of diagnoses, varying from a sinus headache to a tumour. Dr Google has become the source of choice for self-diagnosis, a second opinion or to find out more about a diagnosed condition. While many healthcare practitioners caution very..
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Medical Technology News South Africa:- Introducing the e-patient
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Almost half the South African population has access to the internet, including 8-million Twitter users and 16-million Facebook users. This digital revolution has unlocked enormous opportunities for the creation of online communities for large-scale engagement around often complex topics like the management of health conditions. Enter the e-patient. A term describing individuals who are proactive..
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South African Paramedics fear for their lives as attacks on EMS crews continue
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Attacks on emergency medical services staff in the Western Cape continue with two teams of paramedics targetted attacked in separate incidents in the space of a week. On Wednesday a team of paramedics was held at gunpoint while responding to an emergency in Khayelitsha and on Saturday another group was attacked, also at gunpoint, robbed..
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Mother disappears and left her disabled kids to starve and live in their own filth
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The mother of this disabled 16-year-old girl and her eight-year-old brother is being sought by authorities after the children were found abandoned in a hokkie. The kids were sitting in their own excrement and did not have any food when members of the local neighbourhood watch found them in their Wendy house in Leiden, Delft,..
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