ARV availability improves in Gauteng, says Mekgwe

Gauteng Health MEC Ntombi Mekgwe has assured the people of Gauteng that the availability of the anti-retroviral drug, Tenofovir, has improved substantially in the province over the past weeks. Read more >>

SA-Cuba agreement to boost healthcare

Cabinet has noted the signing of an agreement between the South African and Cuban Ministries of Health. Read more >>

Preventing diabetes: Yale researchers measure loss of human pancreas cells

[Helen Dodson] A Yale University-led research team has developed a way to measure the loss of insulin-producing islet cells in the human pancreas. The death of those beta cells leads to diabetes. The finding is a crucial step in developing therapies to preserve insulin production and slow or halt the progress of diabetes. The study appears in the June issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Read more >>

Waterkloof Estate gets ready for Mandela Day

Waterkloof Estate and the Sir Lowry's Pass Community Empowerment Project is running a donation campaign to bring some relief to the primary school in this poverty stricken community outside Somerset West. This initiative is in celebration of Mandela Day 2012 on 18 July. Read more >>

Fund-raising book sale for Wola Nani

Now on at Gardens Shopping Centre, Cape Town is a book sale in aid of Western Cape NGO, Wola Nani. On until Sunday 6 June 2012, it offers a selection of quality cult, classic and collectible CDs, DVDs and books for readers of all ages. Facilitating the fund-raising is Well Read Books, a social enterprise. Read more >>

New antibody drug engages the immune system in fight against cancer

About a quarter of patients with deadly cancers had significant reductions of tumor size after taking a new antibody drug, according to results of a large early-stage clinical trial conducted by scientists from Yale School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and other major institutions. The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings are also being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Read more >>

Pfizer Mental Health Journalism Awards opens for entries

Entries are now open for the 2012/13 Pfizer Mental Health Journalism Awards. The awards encourage more writers to become involved in this most misunderstood and least reported on area of health writing. Closing date for entries is Monday, 13 August 2012. Read more >>

A new method for picking the 'right' egg in IVF

[Karen N. Peart] In a groundbreaking study, Yale School of Medicine researchers and colleagues at the University of Oxford have identified the chromosomal make-up of a human egg. This discovery may soon allow them to avoid using abnormal - or aneuploid - eggs during infertility treatments, and instead to pick eggs that are healthy enough for a successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. Read more >>

Gauteng earmarks R1.4bn for medicine

The Gauteng Health Department has set aside R1.4 billion to ensure a steady supply of medicine, with the bulk of the amount to be allocated to the Medical Supplies Depot. Read more >>

Plans to fix health sector on track

Government says substantial steps have been taken towards the establishment of the National Health Insurance System as a means of improving the effectiveness of the country's health system. Read more >>

ARV packs delivered in Limpopo

The Department of Health says Aspen Pharmacare, one of the two companies supplying anti-retrovirals to government hospitals, on Friday released 30 000 packs of Tenofovir for the Limpopo depot. Read more >>

Public comment sought on waste management regulations

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has published for public comment the draft Health Care Risk Waste (HCRW) Management Regulations. Read more >>