Amazing… a new brand
Soekershof, private mazes & botanical gardens in South Africa, has finally launched a brand - and about about half of its visitors are related to the pharmaceutical/medical world, marketing/PR and IT-industries.


Reports of Rift Valley Fever in Mpumalanga
There have been reports of an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever, a fever-causing viral disease mainly affecting domestic animals such as cattle and goats, in the area of Nkomazi in Mpumalanga.

Liberia: Reviving fisheries could boost economy and health
Nine out of Liberia's 15 counties lie along 570 km of the Atlantic Ocean and small scale fishing provides a major source of income and nutrition for coastal communities, but the sector has been neglected by the government and donors during and since the country's ruinous civil war.

New study says Oz nurses could carry some of the GP workload
According to new research Australia's "crisis in manpower”, currently being experienced regarding general practice doctors could be alleviated if better use was made of the expertise of practice nurses.

Anaesthesiologists spend R100m in Cape Town - HWB Communications
Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), which is hosting more than 7 300 delegates, partners and exhibitors from around the world this week during the 14th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA 2008) has added a new spin-off to its contributions to the country such as the R6.8 billion to national GDP since opening.

Gauteng Department of Health: Gauteng holds health indaba to tackle sector skills challenge - Zanenza Communications
The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) is convening an inaugural summit for stakeholders in the health sector to develop a Human Resources Planning Framework and task team.

3D medical images from Great Stock! - Great Stock!
Great Stock's new MedicalRF collection of royalty free images uses cutting-edge technology to get you superb images that would be impossible to achieve using conventional photography.

Kenya gets major health drive boost
[Carole Kimutai] Thousands of new mothers in Kenya are set to receive free child health tips as part of an ongoing maternal health awareness program funded by Reckitt Benckiser, makers of Dettol.

Medicine prices: Americans count the cost
New USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard poll finds the public sees real benefits from prescription medicines, but feels that they cost too much and that pharmaceutical companies care too much about profits.

Students must still report HIV status
Illinois House rejects legislation that would have repealed Act requiring students to report their HIV status.

Uganda: New ARV factory off to a slow start
Much excitement greeted the opening of Quality Chemicals in 2007, the first manufacturer of antiretroviral (ARV) medication in East Africa, but six months later the production lines are still idle.


HIV blocking gene found
A team of researchers at the University of Alberta, including a scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, have discovered a gene that is able to block HIV. That, in turn, is thought to prevent the onset of AIDS.

US healthcare IT at a crossroads
Hospitals in the US are suffering from IT growing pains. "The reality," says Vi Shaffer, research vice president for Gartner, "is that having more information more accessible changes the rules for everyone." In the middle of it all are CIOs, who must bridge the old and the new, often learning their evolving role on the fly.

Company news: Access to healthcare and scarcity of resources – a public and private challenge - Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA)
Access to healthcare has always been invaluable to those in need, about that there is little doubt. What is disconcerting is the fact that few South Africans realise just how scarce access to healthcare is becoming, even within the private healthcare sector.

Egypt: Poor hygiene, ignorance blamed for prevalence of hepatitis C
The results of an ongoing national survey on the prevalence of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Egypt, to be released later this year, will tell how much of a problem the disease still is in the country, said specialists.

Low-cost meningitis vaccine developed
A new low-cost and highly effective meningitis vaccine will be introduced in 2009 as trials in West Africa proved successful, the head of the project said in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou.


Vaccine to prevent life-threatening pneumonia - InZalo Communications
Recent data show that almost one half of pneumonias in children requiring hospitalisations could be prevented using the pneumococcal vaccine.

Google is well positioned to enter the personal health record market
“... Google through its brand strength and consumer reach is likely to have the most impact upon the industry and bring PHRs into the living room of the population...”

Are you drinking yourself to death?
How much and how often people drink - not just the average amount of alcohol they consume over time - independently influence the risk of death from several causes, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Estradiol hormone protects against hearing loss
The "female sex hormone" estradiol is present in both men and women, and is generated from testosterone in men by the protein aromatase.

US, SA break new ground in health science cooperation
The United States and South Africa held the first meeting of the Joint Commission on Science and Technology under the US-South Africa Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement February 24-29, in Massachusetts and Washington, DC, organised by the US Department of State.

Company news: Philips introduces a first-of-its-kind multi-measurement module - Jenni Newman Public Relations
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) recently announced a new patient monitor and a new multi-measurement module that will help clinicians and first responders better focus on treating patients.

Company news: Intel Technology supports the Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour safety - A-Plus Communications
The organisers of The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour are deploying Intel technology to support the health and safety of riders at this year's race.

Company news: Siemens Profile Awards unlocks potential impact of science and technology - Redline – a division of DraftFCB (SA)
Emphasising the growing and widespread trend towards reporting on science and technology in Africa and the way in which it impacts the lives of the people, the 2007 Siemens Profile Awards has attracted a record number of entries from across the continent including South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Benin, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Rwanda.

Childhood obesity… a growing concern
More than 17% of children in South Africa are overweight. Obesity in children is not something that a parent expects to deal with, but due the change of lifestyles, it is often a reality for many. Although a high-energy intake is essential for your child as it adds to their growth and development, it is still important to maintain a healthy balance.

Refined carb diet increases risk of common diseases
Eating foods the body quickly converts into blood glucose - such as highly processed breakfast cereals and most white breads - leads to a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.

Coping with cancer the nutritional way
Do you have cancer or know someone who has cancer? Are you frustrated and confused about what to eat and when?

Call for equal access to cervical cancer treatment for all women and girls
The World Medical Association and the Medical Women's International Association as called for a comprehensive prevention strategy for reducing the threat of cervical cancer.

Colorectal cancer not always easy to detect by colonoscopy
According to a new study by researchers in the US, colonoscopies do not detect all colorectal cancers; they say that flat lesions can be easily overlooked during a colonoscopy.

Nanotechnology advances brain cancer detection and therapy
Brain cancer is one of the most aggressive and lethal of malignancies, made even more difficult to treat by the fact that most anticancer drugs have a hard time even getting to the tumours.

First ever World Glaucoma Day - The Write Agency
World Glaucoma Day has been developed by The World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Organization in response to the concern over the worldwide increase in the number of people with glaucoma (also known as “the sneak thief of sight”) and the resulting increase in the number of people who could go blind from this disease as the population increases and ages.

Sierra Leone: Child and maternal mortality worst in the world – UNICEF
Sierra Leone has the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world because of underinvestment in health programs, malnutrition, and harmful cultural practices, UN children's agency (UNICEF) Executive Director Ann Veneman told journalists in the Sierra Leone capital.

Company news: ONTARGET medical programme expected to offer new hope in fighting world's No. 1 killer - Redline
The results of the ONTARGET trial, which are expected to provide evidence for the best proven treatment that will save and extend lives as well as enhance the quality of life for people suffering from, or at risk of, heart attacks, strokes and a common form of diabetes are eagerly anticipated.

Call to action to resolve health worker crisis
The first-ever Global Forum on Human Resources for Health has called for immediate and sustained action to resolve the critical shortage of health workers around the world, setting out the essential steps that need to be taken over the next decade to turn the crisis around.

Africa worst affected by shortage of health workers
Poor working conditions and inadequate pay have driven away health professionals from developing countries, thereby undermining medical services, a conference to address the global shortage has noted.


Senegal: Toxic vegetables for sale
In his two-hectare garden in Kounoune village, 40 km east of Dakar, farmer Babacar Wade, 38, grows lettuce, cabbage, parsley, aubergine, peppers, and okra - some of the most coveted vegetables for export from Senegal.


Egypt: Lack of modern sanitation systems threatens groundwater, health
Nearly all Egyptians - 98 percent of the population - have access to piped water but only some have proper sanitation facilities. Not much attention has been paid to the effective and safe disposal of sewage, especially in rural areas, say specialists.

Cote d'Ivoire: Tuberculosis infections spreading
Tuberculosis (TB) infections in Côte d'Ivoire increased 9 percent between 2006 and 2008, and almost 10 percent of the cases were multi-drug resistant, according to new World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health data.