Airtel, GlaxoSmithKline partner in health awareness campaign

As part of its corporate social responsibility (CRM) programme to empower Nigerian children with quality education via its adopt-a-school initiative, telecommunication services provider, Airtel together with research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) embarked on a health awareness campaign at a public school in Lagos, Nigeria. Read more >>

Sea Harvest's 'Kids for Kids' campaign raises R200 000

On Friday 13 April 2012, the B2 General Medical Ward at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital received a much-needed R200 000 cash injection from this year's Sea Harvest 'Kids for Kids' campaign. After raising nearly R500 000 in just two years through the campaign, Cindy Hess, Sea Harvest financial director, says the company is more committed than ever to next year's campaign. Read more >>

Back to basics for NHI programme

Details of the National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot programme have been fleshed out, and health minister Aaron Motsoaledi is working to win the buy-in of patients as well as players in the private health-care sector. Read more >>

Prosumers lead change in attitudes toward health - survey

Research conducted on new realities in health and wellness by integrated marketing communications agency, Euro RSCG Worldwide, shows there is a revolution in consumers' attitudes towards their health - with interesting implications for brands both within and outside the healthcare arena. Read more >>

Non-cancerous brain tumors linked to frequent dental X-rays

People who received frequent dental X-rays in the past, before dosages were lowered, have an increased risk of developing a meningioma, the most common and potentially debilitating type of non-cancerous brain tumor, a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health has found. The study is published online in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society. Read more >>

Aspen hails decision to boost locally made medicines

[Tamar Kahn] SA's biggest drug manufacturer, Aspen Pharmacare, on Friday welcomed the announcement by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies that the pharmaceuticals sector had been designated as one in which the government would purchase selected products exclusively from domestic manufacturers. Read more >>

SA pharmaceutical industry extends to Africa

The SA pharmaceutical industry has not only weathered adversity in an unfavourable local trading environment, but is extending its reach to the rest of the continent. Read more >>

Bid to revive pharmaceuticals production

The government has put measures in place aimed at reviving the waning pharmaceuticals production sector, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Friday, 13 April 2012. Read more >>

US to decide on obesity drug in July

WASHINGTON, USA: US regulators will decide in July whether to approve Qnexa, the first obesity drug in more than a decade, extending the initial deadline by three months, the California-based drug-maker VIVUS said. Read more >>

Branded pharmaceutical websites generate highest lifts in Rx conversion and adherence

RESTON, US: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from its sixth annual Online Marketing Effectiveness Benchmarks for the Pharmaceutical Industry, conducted in partnership with marketing innovation consultancy Evolution Road LLC. Read more >>

Post-menopause cancer risk linked to seaweed: study

TOKYO, JAPAN: A Japanese study Wednesday, 11 April 2012, said regular seaweed consumption among post-menopausal women heightened their risk of developing thyroid cancer, linking it to iodine in the macrobiotic food. Read more >>

Womb cancer deaths rise by a fifth in the last decade

Deaths from womb (uterine) cancer have risen by nearly 20% in the last decade, according to new figures from Cancer Research UK last week. Read more >>

Women cannot rewind the 'biological clock'

[Karen N. Peart] Many women do not fully appreciate the consequences of delaying motherhood, and expect that assisted reproductive technologies can reverse their aged ovarian function, Yale researchers reported in a study published in a recent issue of Fertility and Sterility. Read more >>

Drug importers fear local content

[Tamar Kahn] The National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers on Monday complained it had been sidelined by the Department of Trade and Industry as it drew up plans for preferential procurement for domestic medicine makers. Read more >>