Choose life, not tobacco - CANSA
Be smart, never start. This is the message from the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) for its anti-tobacco campaign in May leading up to World No Tobacco Day on 31 May. This year's theme is Youth Against Tobacco, so CANSA encourages all young people to be smart and never start this deadly habit in any shape or form.

Wits health communication project hosts COMET 2008 - PR Newswire
The Wits Health Communication Project will host the 2008 Conference on Communication on Medicine and Ethics (COMET) for the first time in Africa this year. The conference brings together scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds in medicine, the humanities and the social sciences.

CTICC wins important medical conferences - HWB Communications
Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) has won bids for two international medical congresses.

Brazil Tech 2008 to promote bilateral trade with Brazil - ITP Communications
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Agency (Apex-Brasil) has announced that it will host a trade mission to South Africa in May 2008.

Pan African Health Expo and Conference 2008 - CVL Consulting
“The African healthcare sector stands to benefit substantially from the increased amounts of money that is flowing into Africa in the form of foreign aid.” This is the view of Bette McNaughton, Event Director of Fair Consultants, organisers of the Pan African Health Expo and Conference taking place from Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 September 2008 at Gallagher Estate, Midrand.

Medical products industry key focus at Brazil Tech 2008 - ITP Communications
The Medical-Dental Products industry is one of four key trade sectors that will be promoted at Brasil Tech 2008, at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, on 27 and 28 May.

Go with your gut - CANSA
Know the risks for digestive cancers.

Europe's finest to learn from SA cardiologist - Martina Nicholson Associates
Thousands watch the screen carefully as his hands work. On screen, a living heart pumps while a small wire threads its way across the image - carefully, deliberately - far finer and more delicate than imaginable.

Personalised therapy for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease could soon be here
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have defined a new type of immune response that is activated in patients with severe asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Their discovery could dramatically improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory lung disease.


Carry on treating high blood pressure - even in old age
Reduction in blood pressure is beneficial in those younger and older than 65.

Renewed hope for those with mild Alzheimer's disease - Magna Carta
Eisai Limited, the licence holder of Aricept® (donepezil hydrochloride) and Pfizer Limited, its co-promotion partner, welcomed today's landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal.

PinkLink launches online breast risk assessment tool - Livewired Communication
Set to revolutionise breast cancer awareness and education PinkLink, a breast cancer advocacy organisation is launching the 5 minutes to LIVE initiative.

African business coalitions formalise organisation against HIV/AIDS - Magna Carta
African business coalitions have created the Pan African Business Coalition (PABC) on HIV/AIDS, which aims to facilitate information sharing and knowledge management on issues around HIV/AIDS on the continent.

Competition to raise awareness of diabetes among youth - The Write Agency
A competition is being run to motivate teenagers living with diabetes to share their inspirational stories.

Danone Clover launches ‘Caring for your Children' campaign 2008 - CH Communications
Danone Clover has launched its Danone Clover Kids 'Caring for Our Children' 2008 campaign, making this the fifth successive year in which they has shown their big-hearted support for children with cancer.

More cancer patients to benefit from Moments in Time Trust - SimonSays Communications
Cancervive Donates R100 000 to The Life After Cancer Cause.

Jabulani the Dreamer - Reach For A Dream Foundation
A new type of Medical Specialist will soon be visiting the wards of hospitals throughout South Africa, dispensing large doses of laughter to the patients, nurses and medical doctors throughout the country.

SA military's HIV ban unlawful
South Africa's High Court in Pretoria has ruled that the military's exclusion of HIV-positive people from recruitment, promotion and foreign deployment is unconstitutional.


Malawi to host international AIDS Candlelight Memorial
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi becomes the first country outside of the US to host the international AIDS Candlelight Memorial, one of the world's oldest such events. The event has been US-based for the past 25 years but early this year the Global Health Council decided to launch the global ceremony of the campaign in Malawi's capital Lilongwe on Sunday May 18, 2008.

Concentrate on reducing partner numbers and on male circumcision
A commentary published recently in Science calls for HIV prevention efforts to be focused on reducing the number of sexual partners and on male circumcision.

Kenya: Muslim clerics declare war on condoms
Muslim leaders in Kenya's North Eastern Province have resolved to campaign against the promotion of condoms as a means of preventing HIV.

The truth about detox dieting - The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
Society is consumed with everything ‘fast', from fast living and fast cars to fast foods. Many people think that as a result of our hectic and modern lifestyle, we are filled up with “poisons” from polluted air and food additives. You may thus be easily convinced to turn to a detox diet as a way of ‘cleansing' or ‘detoxifying' your body.

Golf Day with a heart - The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
The Planet Fitness Royal Cape Golf Day in aid of the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA will take place on Friday, 13 June. The competition format of the annual charity golf day is 4-Ball Betterball Stableford and entry fees include green fees, dinner and great prizes. This is an ideal networking opportunity for companies and their clients.

Tucking into tuck shops - The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
[Melissa Zwart] School years are a time of rapid growth and learning for children, and it is at this time that good nutrition plays a vital role in ensuring that they reach their full potential. Sadly, however, a child's nutritional needs are often overlooked and underplayed by both parents and the school system, resulting in common problems such as behavioral disorders and childhood obesity.

INDONESIA: Climate change brings new disease threats
The rapid change in the world's climate is putting Indonesia at greater risk of infectious diseases, according to health specialists.

Another outbreak of bird flu in Seoul
A further outbreak of bird flu in Seoul has prompted widespread culling of domestic fowl in the city.

The critical condition of health insurance customer service
When it comes to providing customer service, health insurance companies are not just ailing -- they're in a prolonged coma. That may change if a new presidential administration in the U.S. results in policy shifts that require companies to be nicer in order to protect their own bottom lines.

South Africa's first independent medical aid quote site is launched - Optivest Health Services
In a joint statement made in 2005 the Council for Medical Schemes and the Department of Health acknowledged the important educational role the intermediary/broker played and said that consumers faced immense difficulties in obtaining independent and sound advice on available health products.

School for life!
Study finds that the gap in mortality rates between people with more education and those less educated, has widened.

More reasons to drink red wine
Red wine may be good for diabetics, according to a new study.

Another use for Viagra
Sildenafil may protect the heart in muscular dystrophy.

New hope for insomnia
A novel treatment of insomnia offers those who suffer from it some hope.

Can biologic drugs tackle antibiotic resistance?
[Mansi Shah] The increase in resistance to and toxicity associated with some conventional antibiotics means that antibody-based products can represent a novel approach to the treatment and prevention of infections.

Wireless to take healthcare out of hospitals
Hospitals in the US and Europe are increasingly using wireless technology to automate patient care and back office processes.

Laughter really is the best medicine
A new study has shown that a blend of yoga and laughter can significantly lower blood pressure.

Nutrient study finds food labels misleading
Nutrition labels on foods that have been fortified with vitamins and minerals are not to be trusted, a study of common products reveals.

Liberia: Living with fistula
Of 600 rape victims recently interviewed by a Liberian non-governmental organisation, 90 percent of the women were found to be suffering from fistulas - a vaginal tear which results in loss of bladder control and social stigmatisation.


New data reveals impact of deadly human papillomavirus in Latin America, Caribbean
Thirty-three thousand women in Latin America and the Caribbean die each year of preventable cervical cancer, caused by a virus that infects 20% of men and women in the region and as many as 30% of the youngest women, according to a new study.

Bone metastases: can you teach an old drug new tricks?
Advanced cancers become largely incurable once they have spread, or metastasised to the bone. Patients affected with bone metastases require supportive therapy in addition to anti-cancer treatment to manage skeletal complications. However, while the bisphosphonates currently used to treat bone metastases reduce the risk of skeletal complications such as bone pain and fractures, they offer no survival benefit in the majority of patients. However, bisphosphonates may effectively prevent bone metastases in early stage cancer patients, which could potentially revolutionise the management of this advance complication, according to a new report* by independent market analyst Datamonitor.

Blogging to bust cancer myths
The misinformation and confusion that often hovers around health and science stories will soon be dispelled by top science bloggers at Cancer Research UK.

Physical activity protects some women from breast cancer
A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reports that physically active women are 25% less likely to develop breast cancer.

Building a network of oncology nurses and practitioners - The Mail Room
This is a key objective of the South African Lymphoma Patient Group.

Three quarters of child car deaths could have been prevented in Australia
In what will come as quite shocking news, Australian researchers say that almost three-quarters of child deaths in car accidents could have been prevented if seatbelts had been properly fitted.

Pharma moving to more restricted drug distribution, in attempt to guard drug supply chain
Ideally, drug supply should be a simple and transparent chain that connects the manufacturer and patient in as few steps as possible. However, in practice it can be a highly circuitous one that includes several intermediaries before reaching a pharmacy. Notwithstanding the possibility that drug integrity can be compromised in transit, complex supply chains risk counterfeit drug entry.

SA: High food prices cripple orphan feeding programmes
Elizabeth Kineelwe, the cook at a drop-in centre that provides meals and support to orphans and impoverished families in Soweto, Johannesburg's largest township, is on the frontlines of a nationwide struggle to cope with rising food prices. Lately, she has been cooking a lot of cabbage soup.

Nigeria: Toxic grain threatens food security
The hospitalisation of 116 girls after consuming beans sprayed with harmful pesticides at a secondary school in northern Nigeria's Gombe State on 18 April has raised concerns about how dry foods are stored all around the country.