News

News

Insurers hit by rising disability claims, late cancer diagnoses

19 Aug 2022

Fin 24 reported on 19 August that Sanlam Group Risk, Reinier van Gijsen, said one local company, which participated in a recent Sanlam survey, saw its disability income claims rate rose by 105% between mid-2020 and mid-2021.
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Top scientist warns doctors prescribing ineffective Covid-19 treatments

18 Aug 2022
“Doctors continue to prescribe ineffective Covid-19 treatments such as ivermectin despite the mounting evidence that they do not work, scientist Salim Abdool Karim has warned in an editorial published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Study shows 80% of people prefer pharmacies for Covid-19 jabs

17 Aug 2022

More than 80% of people are willing to have a Covid-19 jab at their local pharmacy or doctor’s rooms, according to a new study by Wits University. – Business Live (15 August 2022).
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FCPSA do not support or endorse Hospital-at-Home initiative

17 Aug 2022

In its latest newsletter, the Faculty of Consulting Physicians SA (FCPSA) informed its members that “we are not in a position to support or endorse the ‘Hospital at Home’ initiative at this time. Members are advised to consider the broader professional ramifications of such an initiative before making an informed decision”.
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‘Discovery announces long-deferred medical aid increases’

17 Aug 2022
Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) announced that its contribution increase, effective 1 October 2022, will remain at May’s planned level of 7.9%.
“The country’s largest medical aid provider originally told members in October last year that contributions for 2022 would increase by 7.9%, but that this would only be effective from 1 May,” reported |Moneyweb (15 August 2022).
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BHF takes legal action over CSM’s delays on low-income schemes

17 Aug 2022

The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has launched a legal attack on the medical scheme industry regulator over its delays in implementing cheap, pared-down benefit packages aimed at low-income workers, reported BusinessLive (16 August 2022).
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Poison centre reveals toll of pandemic’s ivermectin fad

17 Aug 2022

Sunday Times (14 August 2022) reported that a study by Stellenbosch University shows that the province’s poison information helpline dealt with a “negligible” number of ivermectin toxicity cases over the five years preceding the pandemic.
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Medical groups lash out at governments ‘focus on importing skills’

16 Aug 2022
Reacting on government’s decision to amend its Critical Skill List Medical Brief (17 August 2022) reported that organisations representing medical professionals accused government of a lack of foresight and of ignoring warnings.
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ANALYSIS How do you stop a hospital heist? |

16 Aug 2022
“Currently, politicians decide who fills the top hospital jobs. At the same time, they also determine who heads up supervisory bodies such as the Office of Health Standards Compliance and other regulators, which have been established to protect the public from misgovernment,” wrote Alex van den Heever. adjunct professor at the University of the Witwatersrand’s school of governance in Daily Maverick (17 August 2022)
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Illness risk up in SA after Covid-19

14 Aug 2022

According to new data presented at the Hospital Association of South Africa’s (HASA) annual conference, heart attack risk, depression and other mental health issues have soared among South Africans since the pandemic started. – Mail& Guardian (12 August 2022)
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Litigation worries mount for Sanofi and GSK

14 Aug 2022

Bloomberg reported on 11 August that SANOFI, GSK and Haleon have lost a combined $40-bn in market value amid mounting concerns about litigation around recalled heartburn drug Zantac.
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Health Minister’s comment provides ‘some comfort to medical scheme industry’

15 Jun 2022

 

Health Minister Joe Phaahla’s comment that NHI will be implemented step-by-step - gradually phasing out the role of medical schemes in the private sector - should provide some comfort to these private healthcare services, according to Business Day (15 June 2022)

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Activists demands change in intellectual property laws

10 Nov 2021

 

Activists from Fix the Patent Laws Campaign (FTPL) urged government to change intellectual property laws to allow more people to access lifesaving medicine for serious ailments such as cancer, HIV, Covid, tuberculosis, mental health and diabetes.

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Vaccination slashes Covid deaths and ICU stays

10 Nov 2021
Bloomberg reported on 9^th November that an Australian study found that people who are fully vaccinated are 16 times less likely to end up in intensive care wards or to die from Covid-19 than those who have not been immunised.
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COVID-19: The big wave is coming

09 Jun 2020

“It is only a matter of time before the rest of South Africa reaches the surge in COVID-19 coronavirus cases currently being experienced in the Western Cape, experts warn,” reported City Press (7 June 2020).

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