Author name: Pii Digital

Spotlight on World Cancer Day 2011   World Cancer Day is marked on 4 February to raise awareness of the global impact of cancer and increase understanding of prevention, detection, treatment and care.  Key Facts:   Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide: it accounted for 7.4 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) […]

From left: Adv Sesi Baloyi, Mr Sagie Pillay, Prof Barry Schoub and Prof Adrian Puren Staff and retired staff from the NHLS, representatives from the Department of Health and academic institutions packed the NICD’s PRF auditorium to capacity on the 21st January 2011, to bid farewell and pay homage to NICD executive director Prof Barry Schoub

NICD Special Communique-January 2011    Three new laboratory-confirmed human cases of Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus infection have been identi­fied. All three cases are farmers/farm workers who had direct contact with animal tissues and body fluids when slaughtering/skinning livestock during late January 2011. All three cases presented with flu-like illness to their local healthcare prac­titioners.

Hospital-acquired infections are an issue of increasing concern in South Africa and throughout the world. The ability of the NHLS to contribute to the control of such infections received a boost recently with the launch of the Unit for Molecular Epidemiology at the NHLS laboratory at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. The unit is a

The annual Magnet IDEAL Employer award ceremony, which took place on Thursday, 2 December 2010 at the Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton, saw rank outsider National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) voted into third position by South Africa’s science students.  “This is an extraordinary achievement in anybody’s book,” says Peter Johannson, MD of Magnet Communications, the company

 A two-year-old Johannesburg child was recently confirmed to have died of rabies after being scratched by an unvaccinated domestic puppy. The disease was also confirmed in 11 dogs in the greater Johannesburg area as of 3 October, according to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). Dr Pete Vincent of the Netcare Travel Clinics and

Food-borne diseases like E. co//and salmonella have become more prevalent in the past few decades as food moves aroun the globe s with most countries which are signatories of organisations like Unicef and the World Health Organisation, SA's signed agreements to decrease the occurrence of these illnesses as they're recognised as a threat to global

TODAY, Friday 15 October 2010, is Global Handwashing Day, which highlights how the regular practice of this simple hygiene habit could help save the lives of millions of children every year and ultimately, contribute to a healthier South Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that worldwide at least 3.5 million children under the age