Dangers of skin lightening creams
A recent clinical report in The Lancet highlights the dangers of illegal skin lightening creams.

Netcare to cut costs of anaesthetic gases
[Gabi Khumalo] The Department of Health has welcomed the decision by Netcare to reduce its charges for anaesthetic gases according to the single exit price legislation.

India's smoking epidemic described as "catastrophic"
A new study suggests that by 2010, India's death toll due to tobacco smoking will be about 1 million people a year, taking the country's smoking epidemic to catastrophic proportions.

Consumers look to personal care products over cosmetic surgery
According to two new reports by a top UK-based research company, professional personal care products are gaining ground as an alternative to cosmetic surgery.

Health Department tackles medicine price fixing
[Gabi Khumalo] The Department of Health has vowed to get rid of price fixing by pharmaceutical companies in the country's health industry.

Health experts discuss counterfeit medicine
An international conference discussing threats of counterfeit medicine and their effects on patients in Africa is underway in Johannesburg.

Children, sexual experience, and school
What explains between-school differences in rates of sexual experience?

US doctors uncertain about approaches to care for heart failure patients
Fewer than one quarter of US physicians specialising in geriatrics, internal or family medicine or cardiology believe they can accurately predict the whether patients with heart failure are at risk of dying, new Saint Louis University research found. How do SA doctors compare?

Not enough done to fight alcoholism
A shift in disease perception is required to fully utilise available drug treatments for alcoholism.

Cancer cells adapt using Darwin's 'survival of the fittest' principle to resist treatment
Scientists in London have discovered a new genetic mechanism that helps cancer cells survive by changing the way they respond to treatment.

Company news: Equal lends support to Diabetes SA - Livewired Communications
One of South Africa's leading sweetener brands, Equal, announced its support for ongoing education and awareness programmes with Diabetes SA at the opening of their new offices.


Company news: Vodacom opens its heart on Valentine's Day - Quo Vadis Communications
Vodacom opened its heart again on Valentine's Day (14 February) when the Vodacom Foundation announced a R4 million donation to enable 27 disadvantaged children to receive corrective heart surgery.

Company news: Pan-African conference focuses on keeping medicines in Africa safe - Magna Carta
Regulators meet to address the threat of counterfeit medicines in Sub-Saharan Africa

Problems with blood thinning drug could originate in China
Following a warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it had received reports of 4 deaths and over 300 incidents of health problems associated with a blood-thinning drug, it has now been revealed that U.S. regulators never inspected the Chinese plant that makes Baxter International's heparin.

Poor tracking means patients lose out
Inadequate patient tracking at one of South Africa's largest antiretroviral (ARV) distribution sites, has led to many patients disappearing from the clinic before treatment starts, a new report has found.

Uganda: New study shows low condom use among HIV discordant couples
Condom resistance remains a real problem among HIV discordant couples in Uganda, new research has found.

Africa: Bush's trip highlights flaws in US HIV/AIDS policy
President George W. Bush's praise for US efforts against HIV/AIDS in Africa should not obscure how his administration's policies continue to undermine HIV prevention on the continent and globally, Human Rights Watch said today.

Art imitates life in Mozambique
"I don't know why you had to go to the hospital," the woman's husband yells furiously. His pregnant wife defends her decision to go to the hospital instead of just trusting the traditional healer. "But I had to know about my health and the health of my baby," she argues. At the hospital, the wife discovers she is HIV positive.


Sao Tome and Principe: Condoms anytime, anywhere
Bars, restaurants and stores in the archipelago of São Tomé and Príncipe now have a new attraction: small brown wooden boxes containing 144 condoms each, placed in highly visible locations. Condoms have traditionally been distributed at healthcare centres, but under the government's new prevention campaign they are gradually becoming more accessible.

A golden voice in AIDS prevention
She has been mesmerizing fans for three decades.

Dress Red and prevent future heartache - The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) is calling all lovebirds to express their love with a Dress Red sticker on Valentine's Day. Dress Red Day is a national fun day aimed at raising funds for the Foundation's Children's Programme, which has impacted on the lives of over 1.7 million children to date.


Company news: Knowledge is power during pregnancy - Magna Carta
Pregnancy is a very special time in life. It is a time of change and it is important to be informed of the changes happening in your body, of what to expect during birth, as well as in the early days after birth.

Scramble to contain meningitis epidemic in CAR
Aid agencies and the authorities in the Central African Republic (CAR) have joined forces to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people at risk of meningitis in the northwest of the country, officials said.


Cholera outbreak spreads in Katanga
A cholera outbreak in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) province of Katanga has spread, despite efforts to bring the epidemic under control.

Cigarette after Valentine's snuggle deadlier for some
The proverbial cigarette after a Valentine's Day snuggle can prematurely end a love affair

Ethiopia: Strategy to focus on malnutrition
Ethiopia's new national nutrition strategy will target children younger than two years of age because a significant number suffer chronic malnutrition, a senior official said.


Artificial sweeteners may cause weight gain
A study by scientists in the US suggests that eating artificial sweeteners could make people put on weight because experiments on laboratory rats showed that those eating food sweetened with artificial sweeteners ate more calories than their counterparts whose food was sweetened with normal sugar.

NIGER: Fall in rate of female genital mutilation/cutting
NIAMEY, 15 February 2008 (IRIN) - The prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Niger fell dramatically between 1998 and 2006, according to a recent government survey.

Excess body fat definitely associated with increased risk of cancers
It's official - too much body fat is definitely associated with common and not so common cancers

Vitamin and mineral use widespread among cancer patients
Vitamin and mineral use is common among cancer patients and long-term survivors, frequently higher than among the general population.

Take care with breast cancer information on the web
A recent study published in Cancer suggests that most breast cancer data found online is accurate, but sites featuring complementary and alternative medicine are significantly more likely to contain false or misleading health information.

Adapt or die
Pharmaceutical companies are going to have to adapt or die as patent expiries drag infectious disease market down.

Company news: Health communication lacking among South African couples - The Write Agency
More results from the first ever healthy relationships survey have been released with respondents reporting that healthy communication is sorely lacking in the majority of relationships.

SOUTH AFRICA: Paying the price for mining
Increasing environmental contamination, causing water pollution that could lead to ill health, is a legacy of South Africa's mining industry.

Public smoking ban decreases acute coronary events in Italy
The number of acute coronary events such as heart attack in adults dropped significantly after a smoking ban in public places in Italy, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Mpuma Health has 6 months to fill posts
[Sydney Masinga] The Mpumalanga Department of Health and Social Development has six months to fill all vacant, advertised posts, says Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

Nigeria: Motorcycle pollution causing health risks in Kano
Motorcycle emissions in northern Nigeria's Kano city pose serious environmental health risks to residents, according to health and environmental experts, yet the government has refused to pass laws to control the pollution.

Will a new President bring change to healthcare technology adoption?
The 2008 Presidential election has been one of the best things that could have happened for healthcare and thus, healthcare technology in the US, in large part because of Hillary Clinton's decision to run.

Kenya: Healthcare threatened by political crisis
Health officials are concerned about the long-term impact of Kenya's political crisis on healthcare, especially in areas hardest hit by violence since the end of December 2007.

TB Imbizo to discuss challenges
[Gabi Khumalo] In commemoration of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the Gauteng Health Department will host a TB Imbizo, exploring the challenges that affect the provincial TB programme.