Posts tagged with 'Hospital Plan'

 

A change in birth options: What’s behind SA’s skyrocketing C-section rates?

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Almost one in four babies born at public hospitals come into the world via c-section but is it costing some women their lives?

For decades, Caesarean sections were a last resort for mothers and babies in distress. If you had access to this kind of procedure, you could count yourself among the world’s lucky.

At the dawn of the 21st century, rates of the procedure in almost all African regions save for the continent’s north dragged along at less than 5%, recently published research in The Lancetshows. Meanwhile, the continent was home to more than half of the 13 countries responsible for the majority of the world’s maternal deaths, World Health Organisation (WHO) data from the year 2000 shows.

At the same time, C-section rates in much of Asia and Eastern Europe hovered around 7%.

Almost 30-million babies will come into the world this year by Caesarean if 2015 figures are anything to go by — nearly double the number of infants delive
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A cancer drug offers more affordable treatment for diabetic retinopathy

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Treatment for diabetic retinopathy can be expensive, especially in low and middle-income countries such as South Africa, but a recent doctoral study at Stellenbosch University (SU) found that a relatively cheap drug called bevacizumab could be effective.

“We found that injecting bevacizumab into the eyes could help treat diabetic eye disease and prevent blindness in people living in low and middle-income countries,” says Dr Jose Fernando Arevalo, chairperson of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Bayview Medical Center in the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore in America.

Aevalo, who is also the president of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, obtained his doctorate in ophthalmology at the second ceremony of SU’s December graduation.

He says the rapid increase in the prevalence of diabetes means that by 2040 more people will be at risk of developing diabetic eye disease and th
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Pietermaritzburg mortuary mess:- workers return to work after arrests

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The Fort Napier workers had been on a go-slow since November. They have been demanding a wage increase, back pay and better working conditions.

Seventeen employees of the Fort Napier Medico Legal Mortuary in Pietermaritzburg, who were arrested on Monday, were released with a warning on Tuesday. They were arrested after the Department of Health issued an ultimatum to workers to return to work or face arrest.

Department of Health spokesperson Ncumisa Mafunda said that on Tuesday, 16 forensic pathology staff members from Gale Street Medico Legal Mortuary in Durban had also been arrested. According to National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) provincial secretary Phakama Ndunakazi, they were released the same day.

Mortuary workers demand better pay
The Fort Napier workers had been on a go-slow since November. They have been demanding a wage increase, back pay and better working conditions.

“The 1
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Less than 2000 state ambulances nationally may be on the road

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The national health department says it is against outsourcing emergency services. But with a grave shortage of ambulances, it may have no choice.
Just 1971 state ambulance vehicles are on the road nationally, a Bhekisisa survey reveals.

Health department guidelines say there should be at least 5 700 ambulances in operation — or one for every 10 000 people, according to standards quoted in the KwaZulu-Natal health department 2017 annual report. But with less than 2 000 actually functioning, there are only enough state emergency vehicles to cater for about a third of the population, data from provinces show.

A May audit of provincial health departments by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) found shortages of ambulances and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in several provinces.

In response, Bhekisisa requested the latest EMS vehicle and personnel numbers from all nine provinces. The Gauteng, North West, Western Cape, Mpumalanga,
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Wonderful news, Genetics may be the key to new epilepsy therapies

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An international study has discovered 11 new genes associated with epilepsy, which greatly advances knowledge of the underlying biological causes of epilepsy and may inform the development of new treatments for the condition.

Researchers compared the DNA of more than 15,000 people with epilepsy to the DNA of 30,000 people without epilepsy. This has created a better understanding of genetic factors that contribute to the most common forms of this condition, and the results tripled the number of known genetic associations for epilepsy and implicated 11 new genes.

The majority of current anti-epileptic drugs directly target one or more of the associated genes and identified an additional 166 drugs that do the same. These drugs are promising new candidates for epilepsy therapy as they directly target the genetic basis of the disease.

“This work illustrates the power of scientists collaborating across countries and continents. Discovering these new
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