More healthcare news snippets ...

Alcohol abuse costs R9bn a year

Alcohol abuse costs the economy R9bn a year, according to Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Elizabeth Thabethe. This amounted to one percent of the country's gross domestic product, she reported at the start of a Sobriety Week campaign in Pretoria. According to the World Health Organisation, the annual liquor consumption by South Africans amounts to 7.81 litres of pure alcohol per person. This level of consumption ranks South Africa fifty second on a list of 191 countries. The effects of alcohol abuse on the economy could be seen in absenteeism, poor productivity, high job turnover, interpersonal conflict, injuries and damage to property. The campaign calls on all South Africans to ensure that their fellow citizens are protected from the irresponsible consumption of, and trading in, alcohol. Public awareness and education campaigns will be launched in areas where alcohol abuse was most prevalent.

SAPA, 5 September 2011

Statistics show Gauteng has highest TB cure rate in SA

Gauteng has the highest TB cure rate in the country. According to the health department's latest statistics, over 80% of patients who were screened, tested and diagnosed with TB across the province's public health facilities have been cured. The department said the latest cure rate statistics showed an increase from 64% in 2004 to 81% in June this year, making Gauteng the province with the highest cure rate in the country. The health department credited the door-to-door campaigns by community health workers and the Directly Observed Treatment Support campaign for the impressive cure rate. It said that through this approach, defaulters were traced and brought back for treatment.  This has also ensured that more people took the test. In the 2010/11 financial year, 52 118 new TB cases were diagnosed, said health department spokesman, Simon Zwane.

The Citizen, 5 September 2011

Get healthy, Motsoaledi urges

South Africans need to adopt healthier lifestyles to combat the growth of non-communicable disease (NCD) in the country, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. He was speaking ahead of the national summit on the prevention and control of NCDs, to be held in Johannesburg next week. Motsoaledi said the call to the public was simple: people needed to adopt healthy lifestyle practices such as regular exercise, eating healthily and not using tobacco. He said that through these simple yet important measures diseases such as diabetes and hypertension could be prevented. Motsoaledi said NCDs were responsible for more illness and death worldwide than any other cause. He said that despite the fact that in South Africa, AIDS and AIDS-related deaths and illnesses predominated, the numbers of people living with and dying from NCDs was simultaneously and rapidly increasing. Motsoaledi said concerted action across all sectors was needed to address this growing problem.

SAPA, 7 September 2011

Global cancer cases hit 12m a year

New figures suggest that there are 12 million new cases of cancer worldwide each year. The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) believes that about 2.8 million of these cases are linked to poor diet, lack of exercise and obesity. The charity also warns that unless action is taken as a matter of urgency, the number of new cases linked to poor lifestyle will increase dramatically over the next decade. It has urged delegates at the forthcoming UN Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) later this month to grasp a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to prevent a public health disaster. Professor Martin Wiseman, the charity's medical and scientific adviser, said cancer and other lifestyle-related diseases were one of the biggest challenges faced today and the UN Summit later this month was a real turning point. He said that many people were diagnosed with cancers that could have been prevented by leading healthier lifestyles. He added that with millions of lives at risk around the world, the stakes were incredibly high. WCRF scientists recently found that women in the United Kingdom were 17 percent more likely to develop cancer by the age of 75 than their European neighbours. The charity believes the nation's high levels of obesity and alcohol consumption may be exacerbating the problem.

Netdoctor.co.uk, 8 September 2011