Consumers may lose medical aid tax credits
Explaining the matter on TV news channel, eNCA, Nicholas Crisp, deputy director-general for the NHI at the Health Department, said the idea of shifting funds from the wealthy to the public system had been an ongoing discussion for years.
A few opinions are presented which indicates the multi layers there are in moving to NHI. 2.5min read
NHI Bill vote delayed amid backroom political twists and last-minute business lobbying
The vote on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill that seeks to introduce universal public healthcare in SA is now scheduled to be held on 6 December. And that vote must happen, regardless of the political twists and turns that were on display on Wednesday afternoon.
4min read
Report on cheap medical aid options handed to Minister, finally
The Council for Medical Schemes has submitted its report on affordable medical scheme options to Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla – although the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has questioned the decision.
The BHF has argued that the regulator has the authority to grant exemptions to the Medical Schemes Act and allow schemes to offer low-cost benefit option (LCBO) products right away.
2min read
60m children who missed jabs in pandemic now at risk of killer diseases
Large outbreaks of diseases that mainly kill children are spreading around the world, a grim legacy of disruptions to health systems during the Covid-19 pandemic that have left more than 60m children without a single dose of standard childhood vaccines.
3min read
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
Antimicrobials – including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics – are medicines used to prevent and treat infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants.
The week 18 – 24 November is World AMR Awareness Week. Please read the background to what it is and what is being done to combat it. 10min read
Antibiotic resistance causes more deaths than malaria and HIV/Aids combined. What Africa is doing to fight this silent epidemic
Each year antimicrobial resistance – the ability of microbes to survive agents designed to kill them – claims more lives than malaria and HIV/Aids combined. Africa bears the brunt of this development, which thrives on inequality and poverty. Nadine Dreyer asked Tom Nyirenda, a research scientist with over 27 years’ experience in infectious diseases, what health organisations on the continent are doing to fight this threat to medical progress.
4min read