About 17 tons of hazardous medical waste will have to be cleared from sites in Welkom, in the Free State, where it was illegally dumped - almost double the amount initially estimated.

Yesterday Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said clean-up operations had been temporarily halted because of the enormousness of the task. Some of the waste - which included used syringes and bloodied bandages - lay buried 2m deep.

An industry-led 'patent pool', set up last year to target neglected diseases, has finally yielded some fruit.

Drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) launched the pool last year, saying the company would make patents for some of its drugs and manufacturing processes freely available and with no-cost licences. Many hoped the move would boost research into neglected diseases.

Clinical research in South Africa is in serious decline because of two decades of "disinvestment" — leading to an ageing workforce, "chronic underfunding" of its Medical Research Council and "grossly insufficient" funding for research professorships, says a report.

Lack of government funding is driving South African researchers into working on diseases of the affluent, for the pharmaceutical industry, or the HIV and TB agendas of external donors, says the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Health and agriculture authorities in KwaZulu-Natal are on high alert for local cases of Rift Valley Fever, which has already claimed one life and infected several other people and livestock in the Free State and Northern Cape.

The Health Department has issued notifications to all its hospitals on how to treat patients suspected of having the mosquito-borne virus, and farmers have vaccinated cattle against it.

The clean-up operation of medical waste that was dumped in Welkom was scheduled to start today, said the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Over 10 tones of illegally dumped waste will be removed from the Maximus Bricks site, a game farm in the magisterial district of Virginia and the Welkom showgrounds.

Late last year, used bandages, needles, vials and discarded pills were found buried in trenches in the area.

New Year’s resolutions – it’s that time of year again. The time when many of us say we’re going to change ourselves, change our lives, maybe even change the world. Some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, exercise more, save money and manage debt, get a better education, and reduce stress.

Making resolutions specific increases the chance that we’ll follow through on them. Below, I have a few specific suggestions for New Year’s resolutions that shouldn’t be too hard to keep and will, I hope, be worth trying. 

1)  Master the basics of cooking. Proper technique improves any recipe and can make cooking more enjoyable. Stuart Stein wrote a list of the top ten techniques every cook should know (part 1 and part 2) . I would add deglazing a pan, cooking onions to the proper texture, and cooking garlic without burning it to a list of basics.

Save It, an internet and cellphone-based game for school children, available free via the internet and on MXit, was recently launched by the Energy Minister Dipuo Peters.

The game is aimed at encouraging school children to save electricity and has been hailed by internet guru Arthur Goldstuck as a visionary idea.

“It is a great concept but may be missing the mark as there is far less MXit penetration among primary school kids than in high school,” he said.

Carcinogens found in the environment are the cause of over 90% of all cancers.  While genetic cancer is perhaps less easy to avoid we can inform ourselves of man-made carcinogens and avoid coming into contact with many of these toxic substances.

Dr Carl Albrecht, Head of Research of the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), while speaking at a press conference in Cape Town said that the role of environmental factors has been largely underestimated.

Factors such as being exposed to tobacco smoke, ultraviolet light and asbestos fibres are generally well known.  However there are others, in particular man-made chemicals in the environment that most people are not aware of and which CANSA is now focussing on.

South Africa's first case of the H1N1 influenza or swineflu was confirmed today (18th June), the national health department said.

Spokesman Fidel Hadebe said the patient, a 12-year-old child, arrived in South Africa from the United States on Sunday.

The child presented flu-like symptoms and was admitted to a private hospital on Monday morning. Hadebe said the results of laboratory tests confirmed the case in the early hours of Thursday.

"The patient was kept in isolation and discharged after a few days in hospital. He is well and recovering in isolation at home," he said. "All contacts have been followed up and given necessary advice and treatment."

Article Continues: Newstoday

The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs has launched an investigation over the alleged polluted water in Eastern Cape following the death of eight people who are believed to have eaten meals prepared with the water.

The eight people, who had suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting, were from the Mpheko Village, which falls under the OR Tambo Municipality.

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica said an investigation has been launched and departmental officials have been dispatched to the area and are working very closely with the villagers.

Water samples have been collected from the traditional water sources in the area namely Mpheko River and Phantsi Kwentaba Spring. The results are expected to be released on Wednesday.

"The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs will coordinate its efforts closely with the Provincial department of Health and the OR Tambo District Municipality as the Water Service Authority in the area including strengthening of monitoring processes to prevent any further related incidents," Ms Sonjica said on Monday.