The 13th of March 2019 may have been an ordinary day for most but not for a 35-year-old male patient, who had previously lost his hearing in a car accident. In a pioneering surgical procedure using 3D-printed middle ear bones, developed by Professor Mashudu Tshifularo and his team at the University of Pretoria (UP), the […]

Research has shown that excess salt intake is harmful to people’s health. It can lead to high blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Globally salt reduction programmes are gaining traction, whether through awareness campaigns or through governmental interventions. This has been true in South Africa too. Three years ago it […]

The Film and Publication Board (FPB) has urged parents to be vigilant and closely monitor their children’s online activities, especially games downloaded on various App stores or from other online sources. The board in a statement said it has been alerted of a mobile game called “Momo Challenge”, which it describes as a form of […]

AfriForum launched its Anchor Town Roadshow in Pretoria on Monday. During this launch week, AfriForum personnel will pick up garbage in streets, paint road signs and clean up and deforest areas, as well as visit an animal shelter to present donations from the public. The Anchor Town Roadshow is a campaign aimed at creating a […]

Even medicines that are years past their expiration date and haven’t always been kept in strict climate-controlled conditions may still retain their original potency, a small study suggests. That is good news for people working in remote areas of the world where sometimes an expired medication is the only one available and the alternative is […]

As custodians of culture, traditional leaders are ideally placed within communities to expose myths around patriarchy and notions of ownership over the bodies of women that continue to persist. This is according to the Minister of Women Bathabile Dlamini, who on Thursday addressed a dialogue with traditional leaders. The Minister said her department supports and […]

Shanaya Govender (5) from Roodepoort, Johannesburg has battled Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, since the age of 3. Shanaya initially became ill on the 14th April 2017 when she woke up in the middle of the night screaming with pain in her left arm and a fever of 41. She was rushed […]

Caster Semenya has said the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) breached confidentiality regulations ahead of her appeal hearing on Monday where she is fighting for her athletics future. The South African 800-metres double Olympic champion is seeking to overturn a new set of IAAF regulations that are aimed at lowering the testosterone levels of […]

Would you wait if it was your child or someone you loved? Robbie Eddles – an incredibly special and courageous 17 year old from Durban, South Africa – has just relapsed for the third time. He was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when he was 5 years old and fought so bravely for so […]

The countdown to International Rare Disease Day 2019 has officially begun. Taking place on 28 February, the 12th edition of the annual event will see Rare Diseases South Africa (RDSA) increasing the visibility of rare diseases among the general public. This year’s theme, ‘Bridging the Gap’ is dedicated to living beyond diagnoses, calling attention to […]

Ivonne Gentle has been looking after dying dear ones since she was six years old, when the first of her three sisters passed away from cancer… writes Julienne du Toit. By the time her third sister succumbed in 2000, Ivonne and her husband Tommie had moved from Gauteng to the little Northern Cape settlement of […]

Valentine’s Day is only a week away when the world focuses on LOVE. One of the country’s foremost professional matchmakers warns that modern living with all its stresses and technological advances can rob South Africans of the necessary skills to create and maintain healthy relationships. Kas Naidoo believes that SA’s alarming divorce rate could be lowered if […]

Over 10 000 cattle affected by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) have been vaccinated to eliminate the spread of the outbreak. This follows confirmed FMD in cattle in the Vhembe District of Limpopo early this year. Updating the media on the status of FMD in Pretoria on Monday, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana said […]

World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director Dr Matshidiso Moeti says thousands of lives can be saved in Africa with proper cancer prevention, early detection, access to proper treatment and care. Moeti made the remarks on Monday as the world commemorates World Cancer Day. This year’s World Cancer Day is observed under the theme “I am […]

Yesterday, South African musician Seb Goldswain shared the following inspiring encounter he had with road accident victim, Kobus, on Facebook. Here is Seb’s account, in his words: “Yesterday I received a phone call from Brett Nydahl, a psychologist friend, asking if I would consider playing a few songs for one of her hospital patients on his […]

The Quadriplegic Association of South Africa (QASA) has issued a challenge to all major retail stores in South Africa to “take a page out of Richdens Spar, Hillcrest, KZN on the exemplary customer service to wheelchair users!” Spar went to the trouble of creating wheelchair-friendly trolleys after a request from customers. QASA issued the challenge […]

Positive laboratory results have confirmed Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in cattle in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, South Africa, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Tuesday. In a statement, the department said samples were collected during a disease investigation after reports of cattle with lameness were received. The positive location is […]

Professor Kelly Chibale, founder and director of the Drug Discovery and Development Centre, H3D, at the University of Cape Town, has been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal for 2018 by the South African Chemical Institute (SACI). Chibale said he was deeply honoured by the award, which is made to a person whose scientific contribution in […]

The global campaign to end AIDS has made significant strides but the epidemic remains one of the world’s leading public health challenges… particularly in South Africa. Globally, AIDS affects almost 37 million people. Campaigners say one of the biggest challenges in the fight to end AIDS is encouraging people to get tested and making them […]

KINSHASA – The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is now the second biggest in history, with 426 confirmed and probable cases, the health ministry said late on Thursday. The epidemic in a volatile part of Democratic Republic of Congo is now only surpassed by the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa, where more than 28,000 cases […]

The damaging side-effects of a drug to prevent and treat malaria are under investigation this week on South Africa’s top current affairs programme, Carte Blanche (which is now available around the world). This week’s episode also covers food waste (a third of perfectly good food is wasted because it looks less than perfect!), botched boob […]

In this week’s episode of Carte Blanche, the current affairs show helps unmask a major crime syndicate preying on innocent South Africans selling their cars online. The show – which also covers the crisis in cancer treatment in public hospitals, celebrating Asgardia’s second birthday and the effects of climate change – is available to South […]

This week’s episode of Carte Blanche, screened on Sunday in South Africa, is available to South Africans abroad from Tuesday 25th September 2018 – if you subscribe to Showmax.This week’s topics include: Hangberg on Edge Missing and presumed dead, small-scale fisherman Durick van Blerk disappeared overboard after a confrontation with anti-poaching police patrol in August. […]

Michael Dickerson (42) from Hoedspruit Limpopo was participating in a trail running series when he met Daniël Otto, a 6-year-old boy suffering from Congenital Muscular Dystrophy (CMD). CMD is a group of muscle diseases that occur at birth or during early infancy and is characterized by diminished muscle tone according to rarediseases.org. With progressive muscle […]

(Reuters) – AfriAg Global Plc has hired a law firm to help with the application process to become a licensed medical cannabis cultivator and producer in the UK, the South African haulier said on Monday. Britain proposed in July to allow doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis starting this year and several countries, including Germany, Italy […]