The proposed tax on sugary drinks is likely to go ahead later this year, following negotiations between government, labour and industry at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).

“It’s quite clear that the tax will happen and maybe even this year. If not, the conservative estimate is for the tax to be introduced at the beginning of the next tax season in March 2018,” Matthew Parks from the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) told Health-e.

Hypertension and diabetes

Parks was speaking after the Nedlac discussions last Friday. Negotiations are due to continue next week but Parks said the debate is now less about whether or not there should be a tax and more about how to mitigate against job losses and save the “livelihoods of families”.

In parliamentary hearings, health experts were unanimous in their support for the tax as a measure to reduce obesity and its related health problems, such as hypertension and diabetes. South Africans are now among the fattest people in Africa, with 70% of women either overweight or obese and diabetes is now the biggest killer of women in the country.

However, the beverage industry and sugar farmers warned of massive job losses should the tax be implemented and Cosatu, while conceding the unhealthy effects of sugary drinks,  has also raised its concern about job losses.

 “We are especially concerned with sugar cane farmers and we call on government and industry to raise the percentage of locally sourced sugar from 85 to 100%,” said Parks.

A significant degree of consensus

In parliamentary hearings on the proposed tax, industry proposed that Nedlac was the appropriate forum for consensus to be reached on the tax.

However, while chair of the finance parliamentary Yunus Carrim, agreed that Nedlac “has the capacity to find a significant degree of consensus”, he warned that the final decision on the tax rested with Parliament.

“Ideally, we would vote on the [Rates and Monetary] Bill after the Nedlac process, but, at the very least, we will consider the progress in Nedlac before we vote,” said Carrim.

Nedlac excludes the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu), which represents most of the workers who could be affected by the tax-related job losses threatened by the Beverage Association of SA and allied industry players. However, there were no job losses in Mexico, which introduced a similar tax in 2015.

Estimated potential job losses

Initially, Treasury has proposed a tax of around 20% on a can of Coca Cola. However, it later proposed a 2.1 cent tax per gram of sugar on all sweetened drinks, but offered to exempt the first 4g per 100ml from the tax. This was an attempt to encourage industry to reformulate its drinks to reduce their sugar content.

The second Treasury concession was to exempt 100% fruit juice from being taxed they contain other vitamins and nutrients that regular fizzy drinks don’t.

The beverage industry estimated potential job losses across sectors in the tens of thousands after the implementation of the tax. But a socio-economic study presented by Treasury to  Nedlac showed total job losses could be as low as 1 500 – if industry reformulates and reduce the sugar content of 37% of their products. – Health-e News

^{Image supplied by iStock}

Amy Green

The information on Health24 is for educational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you are experiencing symptoms or need health advice, please consult a healthcare professional. See additional information.

One would have thought that Grammy Award-winning singer Usher would have learnt from his previous mistakes and taken precautions to protect his sexual partners from herpes.

Now another woman is suing him for millions of dollars for allegedly infecting her with genital herpes, a sexual transmitted disease. The woman claims the You Got It Bad singer didn’t tell her he had herpes before having unprotected sex with her three months ago.

But what precautions should Usher have taken? Dr Sandile Masuku said the R&B sensation could have taken herpes treatment such as acyclovir and used condoms consistently to reduce the risk of passing the disease on.

However, “even if he had followed those precautionary measures, there are no guarantees that his partner would have been entirely protected,” Masuku said.

“Genital herpes is a viral infection which can be spread through having vaginal,
anal, or oral sex with someone who already has the disease. The transmission happens when the infected person has an open sore and the fluids which carry the virus are passed on to his or her partner during intercourse.

“But in some cases it can also be transmitted from an infected sex partner who does not have a visible sore, or who may not know he or she is infected, because the virus can be released through the skin. Viruses are very small and can spread through microscopic breaks in the skin.”

This means that even if Usher didn’t have open sores he could have transmitted herpes to his partners without their knowing. He knew as early as 2010 that he had genital herpes – a virus which remains in the body causing symptoms to flare up every now and then – which is probably why he is getting little sympathy from his fans.

People magazine reported the Confessions singer allegedly contracted herpes between 2009 and 2010, around the time he began divorce proceedings from his first wife, Tameka Foster. In court papers it was revealed that he paid a woman he had sex with $1.1m (R14.8m) in an out-of-court settlement in 2012, after she sued him for giving her herpes.

In California, it is illegal to “knowingly or recklessly” transmit a sexually transmitted disease. In South Africa it’s not, but Masuku says it’s only fair to protect those you love.

“Using condoms and taking herpes treatment is the best way you can reduce your chances of passing the virus on to your partner,” he said.

“But people should be mindful that protection offered by condoms is much more effective at preventing male to female infections than female to male infections.”

Zinhle Mapumulo

Despite making a loss of R12. 6 million last year alone, and R51.3 million in outstanding patient fees, the Folateng private wards at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH) are to be extended to offer new services.

A huge loss

The wards were built to take private, paying patients with the intention of using the income to subsidise the medical costs of state patients. But instead of making money, Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa has told the provincial legislature that the wards are running at a massive loss and efforts to collect on debt owed by private patients have been unsuccessful.

Ramokgopa said that although Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi had complained about the Folateng wards, they continued to operate because the Gauteng Health Department had not received any formal communications instructing them to shut the wards down.

“The statement made was that we need to utilize the available beds whenever there is an overflow of state patients, which is currently happening,” said Ramokgopa, explaining why the Folateng wards were operating at capacity.

Addressing the Gauteng Legislature, Ramokgopa said that 2 721 private patients were treated at the CMJH Folateng unit last year, generating income of R20 043 680. However, the running costs for Folateng were R32 677 528, amounting to a R12 633 884 loss. On top of this, R51 681 703 was outstanding in patient and other fees.

Uncollected patient fees

Jack Bloom, DA spokesman on health, said, “I suspect that this money will have to be written off, as has happened with uncollected fees for the entire Folateng operation which started in 2002 and expanded to four hospitals.”

Ramokgopa said that R569 million in outstanding money owed to the Folateng units had already been written off.

According to Bloom this is a colossal amount, showing that these private wards were a huge mistake, inefficient, poorly managed and generating huge losses in uncollected patient fees.

New efficiency strategies

“Incredibly, Ramokgopa now wants to expand the services instead of shutting the whole thing down,” said Bloom.

“This mad scheme should stop. The Department should stop losing money with the private wards, and instead use them to provide a better service to state patients.”

The Gauteng Department of Health spokesperson Prince Hamnca there were no plans to expand the Folateng unit, but to rather increase the services they offer in order to increase the bed occupancy rate of medical aid and private paying patients.

“By introducing the new services and admitting only private patients, we have improved efficiency in terms of the cost per-patient-day equivalent,” said Hamnca, adding that the department was also “developing efficiency strategies to turnaround the current net losses”. – Health-e News.

James Thabo Molelekwa

Models, pop stars and the socialites roaming Instagram all have glowing complexions in common, but their secret is more than a good makeup artist. They all like to get hooked up – on an IV drip, that is.

Nowadays we struggle to ingest all the essential nutrients we need for optimum health, and we try to make up for it by taking multivitamins.

But if you knew that the perfect dose of vitamins could be administered directly into the bloodstream through and intravenous (IV) drip, would you do it?

What is IV drip therapy?

Intravenous nutrient or vitamin drips have become a popular lifestyle trend among celebrities and the rich, and is now being offered by increasing numbers of health spas to replenish energy and hydration and improve the skin. And clinics that offer alternative therapies use IV vitamin therapy for an array of conditions including cancer, asthma, fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s disease, fatigue and migraines.

Different needs

Nowadays the idea is to adapt the formula inside the IV drip to suit the needs of the patient, but when IV drips were first administered for vitamin and nutrient therapy, it was a formula based on the findings of the late Dr John Myers, a physician from Maryland who injected nutrients into his patients to treat various conditions.

According to research published in the Alternative Medicine Review, the exact doses of nutrients in the Myers cocktail was not known, but it has been recorded that a combination of magnesium chloride, calcium, gluconate, thiamine, vitamins B6 and B12, calcium pantothenate, vitamin C and diluted hydrochloric acid was used.

Why is IV therapy deemed more effective?

According to the findings by the late Dr Myers, intravenous administration of nutrients can achieve serum concentration that is not possible with oral ingestion. This means that the dose of nutrients injected by IV drip increases almost 12-fold in comparison to when it’s administered orally, making it more effective.

But is it really more effective?

While the published article on Myers’ research made good theoretical points in the defence of IV vitamin drips, studies demonstrated placebo effects. There was also a lack of real clinical trials, proof of efficacy and substantial evidence. Where nutrients were administered intravenously, it was when patients were unable to eat or take vitamins orally.

Intravenous administration means that nutrients bypass your digestive system completely. This is not entirely without risk, as the digestive system offers several layers of defence, from saliva to antibodies. 

Under normal circumstances, however, the risk is small. In the case of intravenous ingestion of nutrients your body will only absorb what it needs and will discard the rest through urine.

IV drips won’t cause any harm, but for the amount of money, the benefits might not be that substantial. And there is really no reason to inject vitamins if you are fully capable of obtaining them orally, Science Based Medicine suggests.

And there is also the additional risk of infection if the spa or treatment facility is not properly equipped or if the staff aren’t adequately trained to insert a needle. 

When should you consider it?

Although IV drips containing nutrients and vitamins are used in the treatments of chronic illnesses, researchers are still divided on their efficacy. While many medical spas and treatment centres in larger cities in South Africa are starting to offer IV drips, and although users report a slight increase in energy and an improvement in skin tone, a single treatment is still very expensive (anywhere between R600 and R2 000 per session/drip unit*). 

If you do choose to try this treatment, do your research and only make use of reputable institutions to avoid possible infections.  

^{* Based on countrywide comparison of prices.}