Eastern Cape enters stem cell age.

General Wards Nurses Station

The Eastern Cape has entered the stem cell age with the opening of the province’s first specialist haematology treatment unit.

“Stem cell treatment is the future of medicine. Pioneering work is being done on using stem cells to treat all types of disease,” says Dr Neil Littleton, head of Department of Clinical Haematology at the Provincial Hospital.

He carried out the first haematological stem cell transplant in the Eastern Cape in May 2010.

Stem cells are now separated out in the Eastern Cape by the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) in Port Elizabeth.

Cells for transplant are harvested from the patient themselves through what is known as an autologous process.

With the opening of the province’s first comprehensive haematology treatment unit, the number of transplants is expected to increase.

General Ward One

Patients need to be kept in strict isolation during the transplant process in order to protect them from infection.

The new unit has six isolation wards. They have DSTV and Internet access in order to help patients keep in touch with the outside world while isolated for a month or more.

Other facilities in the R20-million facility on the seventh floor of the M Block in the Port Elizabeth General Hospital include a general male ward, a general female ward, a day ward, a chemotherapy room, and doctors’ offices.

It is the result of two years of lobbying and facilitation by the Igazi Foundation, which was founded because the province suffers from one of the highest incidences of blood cancer in the country.

“Igazi considers this to be phase one. The sixth floor of the building is available, and we are sourcing funding for a haemophilia clinic, bigger outpatients, and more offices for doctors,” says Cole Cameron of the Igazi Foundation.

Accommodation and support for patients from outside of Port Elizabeth will be provided by the Igazi Foundation as a complementary service in the future.

“We hope to serve as a model for the opening of haematology wards around the country, and also as a way in which the private and public sectors can work together to provide medical care,” says Dr Littleton.

Strong interest has already been shown by hospitals nationally and internationally. A delegation from the Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, are attending the official opening of the unit.

Doctors Suite Entrance

The establishment of the Igazi Foundation in Nelson Mandela Bay grew out of the need to highlight the high incidence of blood diseases in the Eastern Cape, and has sparked a research project into the causes of blood cancer in the province.

“While we can now treat haematological diseases in the Eastern Cape, the ultimate objective is to identify and deal with the causes,” says Littleton.

The Igazi Foundation will be continuing with its haematological outreach clinic into the rest of the Eastern Cape in order to raise awareness and will shortly begin a Haemophilia educational programme whilst liaising with national and international role-players.

Ends

Media Release for the Igazi Foundation

By: Siyathetha Communications

Contact: Igazi: Cole Cameron: 084 444 0400

Siyathetha: Maureen Dalzell: 041 5823750/ 083 4535775

Gap-cover health insurance under scrutiny.

THE government is tightening the noose on companies selling “gap-cover” health insurance, hoping it can stabilise the medical schemes market and ensure better consumer protection by scrapping all but a few tightly defined products. Last Friday the Treasury published draft regulations to both the Long-term and Short-term Insurance Acts, which aim to draw a clear distinction between medical schemes and health insurance policies. The draft regulations propose scrapping most gap-cover products, but will allow health insurance for loss of income, travel, emergency travel, HIV/AIDS and frail care. The proposals, which are open for public comment until April 23, are the government’s response to a court case on the legality of gap-cover products which the Council for Medical Schemes lost on appeal in 2008. The council took Alexander Forbes’s short-term insurance subsidiary, Guardrisk, to court, arguing that its gap-cover products were illegal because they were doing the business of a medical scheme but were not registered to do this. The council was denied permission to take the matter to the Constitutional Court, and so turned to the government to amend legislation to deal with the threat it sees in gap-cover products. For several years now, growing numbers of employers and consumers have been buying top-up health insurance to deal with the payment gaps facing medical scheme members. Medical schemes typically set a ceiling on how much they will pay for healthcare providers’ fees, and leave their members to pay the difference if a doctor or dentist charges more. Many medical scheme members face co-payments if they want to use medicines or doctors not on their scheme’s approved lists. They often have to pay a lump sum contribution for medical devices or for certain procedures. Into this breach stepped companies selling health insurance products aimed at two categories of consumers: those who already belong to medical schemes and need extra cover, and those who cannot afford even the most basic medical scheme package but want some protection should they face illness or injury. Whether these gap-cover products are a good or bad thing is open to debate. The Council for Medical Schemes believes gap-cover products destabilise the industry because they encourage younger and healthier people to “buy down” and join less comprehensive medical scheme packages, which they then complement with a health insurance “top-up”. The other problem with health insurance products, it says, is that they are not subject to the close scrutiny faced by medical schemes, which have to comply with the Medical Schemes Act. This leaves consumers in a weak position if they buy health insurance products that turn out not to give them the cover they expect. Wits health economist Prof Alex van den Heever agrees with concern about the lack of protection for consumers, saying the rights of medical scheme members are spelt out in the Medical Schemes Act. Unlike medical schemes, which must charge members the same rate regardless of health or age, health insurance products can “risk rate” and charge more as people grow older. Companies selling insurance products are also under no obligation to take on an individual, whereas medical schemes by law may not exclude anyone. Prof van den Heever says the regulations do not go far enough and should give the Council for Medical Schemes final say over which products are harmful, rather than the registrar of the Financial Services Board.

Jonathan Broomberg, the CEO of SA’s biggest medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health, says the main impact of gap-cover products is to encourage members and employers to buy down to cheaper options that provide less cover than they actually need. He says schemes are being undermined in their ability to provide lifetime cover, which is based on those who are healthy subsidising those who are ill over time. Many smaller schemes, and those with relatively poor risk profiles, are already experiencing these negative impacts, he says. Broomberg says gap-cover products offer poor value for money, as many policyholders fail to claim, adding that typical payout ratios of health insurance products are in the range of 30 percent-50 percent, whereas medical scheme payout ratios for hospitalisation or cancer are typically above 98 percent. He says the low payout ratios of health insurance products make them artificially cheap at present. However, they will become more expensive over time, as policyholders claim more and as they age and experience health events. However, the Board of Healthcare Funders, argues that consumers need the protection offered by gap-cover products. Spokeswoman Heidi Kruger says that without set tariffs for doctors, consumers would be disadvantaged if we were to lose gap-cover products completely. Mike Settas, MD of gap-cover seller Xelus, says the government’s proposals fail to distinguish between products that complement medical schemes and those that compete directly with them.

Tamar Kahn: Business Day, 8 March 2012

Comment from PLWC : Patients must make sure what their medical aid covers and advocate for their rights! Remember – Cancer is a part of  PMB (Prescribed medical benefits)!

19.01.2012

Aspirin should be evaluated for its ability to prevent the development of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women, says a new international report.

The report, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, says this simple and inexpensive solution has the potential to provide enormous benefit for women in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, who suffer from a disproportionately high rate of cervical cancer death.

“These young patients – many of whom were mothers and the sole support for their families – had worked hard to have their HIV controlled with antiretroviral therapy, only to develop and die from cervical cancer,” said the study’s lead researcher, Dr Daniel Fitzgerald from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, US.

Research finding

The research, which was a collaboration between specialists in the US, Haiti and Qatar, discovered that HIV caused chronic inflammation in cervical tissue, which in turn is linked to cancer development in a number of tumour types, including cervical cancer.

Professor Lynette Denny from the University of Cape Town’s Department Obstetrics & Gynaecology explained that main reason for the high incidence of HPV-related disease (of which cervical cancer is one) in HIV-positive women is the immune compromised induced by HIV infection which depletes what is known as cell mediated immunity – precisely the type of immunity required to clear HPV infection.

This may help explain why HIV-positive women are five times more likely to develop invasive cervical cancer than HIV-negative women. It also suggests that inhibitors of the COX-2 molecule (which contributes to the production of PGE2 which elevates tumour formation) might break the link between HIV and cervical cancer. Aspirin is one of the cheapest and most effective COX inhibitors.

“Future studies will be needed to determine whether aspirin-like agents, known inhibitors of prostaglandin production, can reduce the risk of cervical cancer in this high-risk population,” said another senior author Dr Andrew Dannenberg, director of the Weill Cornell Cancer Centre at Weill Cornell Medical College.

“This is an interesting research angle but there is no data to support the use of anti-prostaglandins to prevent cervical cancer – although there is most likely to be a role,” said Professor Denny. She added that although the hypotheses have some validity, she will not recommend it to the public until it has been verified in large clinical trials.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among South African women, and 1 in every 35 women in the country will be affected by it in her lifetime. The high prevalence of cervical cancer is fuelled by the high burden of HIV/Aids among the South African population.

Sources: EurekAlert!, CANSA.org

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Even though I can change my mind and decide to have reconstruction,
three years later, I know that to not have reconstruction was the right
decision for me.

Living with no breasts has taken a lot of hard work to feel whole and
feminine again. I never thought it would have a serious affect on me -
having not been a “body-beautiful” type person, so no worries! WRONG -
in time I realised with horror that my breasts were an intrinsic part of
my femininity and I felt totally vulnerable and ugly without them. I
had taken them totally for granted.

Now, some years later, I am still on the journey to total recovery and
acceptance, but have come a long way. I feel whole and feminine again
even though my body is “different”. I no longer hide my flat chest – I
use it to encourage other women to go for regular checks to ensure they
don’t end up in the same position! It is also a huge advantage when
cycling on a corrugated dust road!!

Anne

Originally I did not think that losing a breast will impact 
emotionally on me. However, as time went by, I realised it is 
affecting me more than I thought. My journey with reconstruction was 
another challenge. My body rejected the prosthesis implants twice. In 
February 2010 a Tram Flap operation (where one’s own tissue is used to
form a breast) was successfully done. Five reconstructive operations 
later, I finally completed my journey to wholeness! I do not have to 
hide my breast behind a scarf or jacket any more. What a blessing! I 
love my new breast, it feels and looks like my own!

Frieda

http://www.mesothelioma.com/

http://www.cancercare.org/tagged/bone_health