Condoms to treat arthritis?

There is a new phenomenon among the elderly in South Africa – the use of condoms as a remedy for arthritis.

This unusual cure was revealed to none other than the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, by one of his ANC colleagues during a Health Portfolio Committee meeting to discuss progress with the implementation of the National Health Insurance programme.

Having captured the Minister’s attention, the Committee Member pressed on. Had the Department of Health any plans to conduct further research on this?

In the absence of any information on what this research would entail, or even which arthritic joints were affected, nobody volunteered to be a “guinea-pig”, although the Minister performed a neat side-step.

It would be very costly for the Department of Health to conduct research on all new medical innovations, he said. However, the Department had established the National Health Research Committee (NHRC), which was chaired by Professor Bongani Mayosi, the Head of Medical Research at the University of Cape Town. This committee is responsible for assessing the relevance of new medical research.

Forget about beetroot as a cure for HIV/AIDS – the cure for arthritis is far more exciting!