OBJECTIVE To investigate equity in the geographical distribution of community pharmacies in South Africa and assess whether regulatory reforms have furthered such equity. METHODS Data on community pharmacies from the national department of health and the South African pharmacy council were used to analyse the change in community pharmacy ownership and density (number per 10,000 residents) bet...

BACKGROUND Research into personal health data holds great potential not only for improved treatment but also for economic growth. In these years many countries are developing policies aimed at facilitating such research often under the banner of 'big data'. A central point of debate is whether the secondary use of health data requires informed consent if the data is anonymised. In 2013 the Dani...

BACKGROUND Upstream bioprocesses are extremely complex since living organisms are used to generate active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Cells in culture behave uniquely in response to their environment, thus culture conditions must be precisely defined and controlled in order for productivity and product quality to be reproducible. Thus, development culturing platforms are needed where man...

The battle between two anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment options (ranibizumab and bevacizumab) for neovascular macular degeneration is a topic of particular significance to eye health professionals with an interest in cost-effective treatment. Being the first of its kind directly comparing the two anti-VEGF, a recent large multicentre clinical trial has shown that bevaciz...