South african medical association
SAMA concerned after Soweto doctor is shot dead
Dr George Koboka was killed at his surgery on Friday after four assailants stormed his surgery and robbed his patients of their cell phones.
Last week Eyewitness News exposed how 10 intern doctors at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital had not received a single salary for this year, with the department blaming admin issues.
Sama hasn't given reasons Dr Angelique Coetzee’s decision but earlier this week it issued a public apology for comments she made on radio about race and admission requirements.
The South African Medical Association (Sama) said it had raised concerns about safety at public hospitals previously and proposed that stringent security measures be implemented for the protection of healthcare workers and patients.
The doctor was hijacked at the Mapulaneng Hospital in Mpumalanga on Tuesday night. Her attackers robbed her at gunpoint and attempted to rape her.
South African Medical Association chair Dr Angelique Coetzee said the introduction of Pfizer booster shots would provide necessary relief to the country’s healthcare system.
Sama is outraged by the government's failure to plan for the junior doctors' statutory placement for 2022.
Dr Coetzee said it was unfortunate that Omicron had been hyped as "this extremely dangerous virus variant" with multiple mutations while its virulency was still unknown.
The South African Medical Association says booster shots for frontline healthcare workers should be made available immediately.
President Cyril Ramaphosa lowered the COVID-19 lockdown level on Thursday night and announced new regulations that will allow up to 2,000 people to gather outdoors.
Government is yet to decide whether the additional doses will be added to the vaccine rollout programme.
On Friday, a male patient stabbed two female doctors and another patient in a casualty ward before being restrained by a security guard.
The association said the issue had again been thrust into the spotlight, with the arrest of ear, nose and throat specialist Dr Ivan Jardine in Johannesburg last week.
Health services have been affected and medical facilities have come under even more strain due to a sharp rise in trauma cases stemming from the violence.
The association said it had asked the national and provincial health departments to boost security at all medical facilities.
The association’s leave to appeal a decision ordering it to return assets of the Samatu was dismissed by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
Exactly a week ago, the South African Medical Association (SAMA) accused the KZN government of lying about the severity of the situation in the province.
South Africa has officially recorded more than one million cumulative cases of COVID-19, with the Department of Health announcing a total of 1 004 413.
The administrator wants the South African Medical Association liquidated – saying it owed the trade union close to R400 million in membership fees alone. But the medical association is fighting to hold on to Samatu’s assets, arguing it never intended to register it as a union.