Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang may be guilty of contempt of court for criticising a ruling that allowed the Sunday Times to comment on her health records, the Public Protector said on Wednesday. The Public Protector made this finding while investigating a complaint of misappropriation of funds against the Health Ministry.
The government is looking at giving food vouchers or cash to poor households to help them cope with spiralling food prices. ”We’re looking at a range of options … such as food vouchers, [as well as] increasing cash transfers in the case of people already on the social-assistance programme,” Social Development Director General Vusi Madonsela said on Monday.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday accused Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang of keeping Aids statistics low after an official report was released by the Development Bank of South Africa. ”The minister of health must explain why official statistics are so low,” said DA spokesperson and MP Sandy Kalyan.
Moves to police the quality of medical treatment and other services in public hospitals were announced by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday. Speaking at Tembisa Hospital on the East Rand, she said these measures will cover a broad spectrum of performance areas, including the safety of patients.
South Africa has made no progress in reducing its under-five child mortality rate, a report published on Wednesday showed. Countdown to 2015 MNCH: The 2008 Report was published by the partnership for maternal, new-born and child health (MNCH), an umbrella organisation comprising about 240 members.
Private health facilities should be more accessible to the general public, Health Department Director General Thami Mseleku said on Friday. Speaking at a primary healthcare conference in Boksburg, he suggested a system that provides for the government to refund private hospitals and clinics for treating patients without medical funds.
Weather-pattern changes are expected to have a negative effect on health and quality of life, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Monday. ”We need to take actions aimed at strengthening our infectious-diseases control, ensure safe use of water supplies and coordinate health actions in order to respond,” she said.
Legislation is in the pipeline to have pseudoephedrine — a key ingredient in the manufacturing of the drug tik, or methamphetamine — reclassified, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday. The restriction of these drugs would make it more difficult for backyard tik manufacturers to produce the drug.
A programme to trace people who default on their tuberculosis (TB) treatment was officially launched in the Northern Cape on Friday by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. All provinces have established TB tracer teams of nurses and community health workers who visit homes to find defaulters and return them to their treatment regime.
The government and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) should bury the hatchet and unite in the fight against HIV/Aids, African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee member Zweli Mkhize told delegates at the TAC’s fourth national congress on Friday.
Stifling the private healthcare industry could see it shift resources to foreign operations, placing greater strain on the public sector, a consulting company said on Thursday. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang announced in Parliament on Wednesday that unregulated private healthcare cannot be sustained.
The government will table draft legislation intended to regulate the private health sector within two months, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Wednesday. ”It is clear that we cannot sustain unregulated private healthcare service delivery in this country and at the same time regulate the medical-schemes industry,” she said.
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/ 29 February 2008
Private hospitals have rejected the minister of health’s call for CPIX (consumer inflation less mortgage costs) to be used as a benchmark for their tariff increases. ”CPIX is not an accurate benchmark of healthcare costs,” the Hospital Association of South Africa said in a statement on Friday.
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/ 28 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is to seek changes to legislation in a bid to contain spiralling private healthcare costs. She made the announcement at a meeting in Cape Town on Thursday with representatives of the country’s leading private hospital groups. She also held a separate meeting with medical-aid industry representatives.
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/ 28 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is taking her department’s healthy lifestyle campaign seriously, according to her spokesperson. The campaign encourages at least 30 minutes of physical activity five times a week, whether it be jogging or merely household chores such as sweeping the yard or gardening.
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/ 26 February 2008
The government is to intervene to curb rocketing private healthcare costs and prevent the sector’s ”demise”, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Tuesday. The health charter task team, among others, has been discussing the challenge of making healthcare more affordable, she told the National Assembly’s health committee.
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/ 25 February 2008
Three committees — dealing with maternal mortality, perinatal mortality and infant mortality — were launched at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park on Monday by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. ”The improvement of the health of women and children has always been a priority in the healthcare planning of our democratic government,” she said.
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/ 25 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Sunday welcomed a new World Health Organisation (WHO) tobacco report that indicates that consumption of cigarettes has declined in South Africa. The WHO report states that higher taxes are especially important for deterring tobacco use among the young and the poor.
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/ 24 February 2008
African traditional medicines should not become ”bogged down in clinical trials” when being subjected to research and development, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday while addressing members of the presidential task team on African traditional medicine.
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/ 22 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Friday said her efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle — including responsible drinking habits — among South Africans were not hypocritical. Speaking to the media at the launch of ”the Healthy Lifestyle Day” in Port Shepstone, she questioned why the media linked her recent liver transplant to her promotion of a healthy lifestyle.
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/ 21 February 2008
The KwaZulu-Natal health department has dropped a misconduct charge against rural doctor Colin Pfaff, following a storm of protest, the doctor confirmed on Thursday. Pfaff faced the charge for administering dual therapy — two antiretroviral drugs — to prevent the infection of babies born to HIV-positive mothers.
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/ 18 February 2008
The Democratic Alliance (DA) was making a mockery of Parliament, the African National Congress charged on Sunday. This, after public protector Lawrence Mushwana recommended Parliamentary action against DA MP Mike Waters. Waters complained last year that President Thabo Mbeki had abused his office by demanding that Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang get priority on a organ-transplant list.
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/ 14 February 2008
The Department of Health on Thursday released a revised policy and guidelines clearing the way for dual therapy in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. At the same time, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang dismissed claims that her department was reluctant to implement the new regime.
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/ 13 February 2008
The KwaZulu-Natal doctor who faces a disciplinary hearing for giving dual-therapy drugs to babies at risk of HIV infection should be hailed as a hero, a doctors’ organisation said on Wednesday. ”To discipline him for doing his ethical duty is disgraceful,” the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society said in a statement.
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/ 10 February 2008
The Health Department recalled 10,8-million condoms after the country was hit by ”quality issues” during last year, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Sunday. ”Yes, we have had a challenge recently with regard to quality issues, but once this was brought to our attention we acted on the matter.”
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/ 7 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday vowed to continue engaging traditional healers on health issues, saying they were important partners in the fight against HIV/Aids. ”Some people might be resisting traditional healers, but I believe we are on the right track,” she said.
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/ 28 January 2008
Private hospitals have disputed claims that they make exorbitant profits. ”The private hospital sector … offers the lowest returns on invested capital in the healthcare chain system,” the Hospital Association of South Africa said on Monday. Chief executive Kurt Worrall-Clare said the profitability of a business could not be evaluated by looking at its income alone.
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/ 25 January 2008
Most private hospital groups will maintain their tariff increases at the consumer inflation rate, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Friday. She said the Department of Health had met with several private hospital groups over the past week, who had committed to review their tariff increases.
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/ 23 January 2008
Activists and doctors on Wednesday accused the government of backsliding on promises to provide more effective treatment to prevent mothers passing on Aids to unborn children. The Treatment Action Campaign said that more than 60Â 000 babies are infected with HIV yearly in South Africa, most of them in the womb.
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/ 20 January 2008
It has not been decided whether African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe will become South Africa’s deputy president, the party’s secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, said on Sunday at the close of the ANC national executive committee’s meeting in Midrand.
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/ 15 January 2008
The threat of prosecution at a high-powered meeting with Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang forced private hospital groups to commit to reconsidering their annual tariff increases last Friday, Business Report said on Tuesday. The Health Department warned hospital groups to comply with the law when charging for anaesthetic gases, or face prosecution.
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/ 11 January 2008
The Department of Health will continue holding discussions with private health-sector groups to ”reconsider” the matter of increased hospital tariffs, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Friday. Addressing journalists in Pretoria, Tshabalala-Msimang said all parties were willing to reconsider the matter.