March 14
South Africa: Sewage Leaks Put South Africa's Freshwater At Risk - How Citizen Scientists Are Helping Clean Up
Across South Africa, sewage systems are leaking and contaminating the country's freshwater. Involving the affected communities can help prevent this pollution hazard, as a group of… Read more »
Africa: Why Do We Usually Sleep At Night? What Happens When We Don't Sleep? Expert Insights Into This Essential Part of Our Lives
Sleep is as essential to our health as food and water. It is important to a number of brain functions, including how nerve cells communicate with each other. We sleep for a third… Read more »
March 13
South Africa: Are You Sitting Too Long in Your Office Job? South African Study Offers Some Health Tips
Sedentary behaviour can result in chronic health conditions such as obesity and heart diseases, bad news for the millions of office workers who are forced to sit behind their desks… Read more »
March 11
Africa: The Next Pandemic? It's Already Here for Earth's Wildlife
I am a conservation biologist who studies emerging infectious diseases. When people ask me what I think the next pandemic will be I often say that we are in the midst of one - it's… Read more »
February 23
Africa: Slouching Isn't As Bad for You As You Might Think
Often a posture assigned to teenagers and disaffected youth, slouching is traditionally considered to be a "bad" posture - with some claiming it will damage your spine and cause… Read more »
March 04
Africa: Ultra-Processed Foods - Largest Ever Review Shows Many Ill Effects On Health - How to Understand the Evidence
Ultra-processed foods, such as cereals and fizzy drinks, have been linked to 32 harmful health effects, according to the largest review of the evidence to date. Read more »
February 20
Africa: Screen Time Doesn't Have to Be Sedentary - 3 Ways It Can Get Kids Moving
There have been concerns about screens making kids more sedentary and less active since TV was introduced more than half a century ago. Read more »
March 04
Africa: Daily Fibre Supplement Improves Older Adults' Brain Function in Just Three Months - New Study
In just 12 weeks, a daily fibre supplement improved brain function in twins over the age of 65. Could the microbes in our gut hold the key to preventing cognitive decline in our… Read more »
March 12
Africa: What's Behind the Worldwide Shortage of Cholera Vaccines? for Starters, They're Only Made By One Company
In February 2024 the World Health Organization announced southern Africa was suffering the deadliest regional outbreak of cholera in at least a decade. At the epicentre of the… Read more »
South Africa: Is My Water Safe to Drink? Expert Advice for Residents of South African Cities
In early March 2024 the residents of Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city and the economic capital of the country, were hit by extended cuts in water supplies. This was a new… Read more »
March 11
Africa: As the Pandemic Turns Four, Here's What We Need to Do for a Healthier Future
Anniversaries are usually festive occasions, marked by celebration and joy. But there'll be no popping of corks for this one. Read more »
March 07
Africa: Why 'One Health' Needs More Social Sciences - Pandemic Prevention Depends On Behaviour As Well As Biology
On March 11, 2024, it will be four years since the World Health Organization characterized the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a pandemic. And while COVID-19 continues to impact people… Read more »
February 29
Africa: Why and How Often Do I Need to Wash Makeup Brushes and Sponges?
From the bristles of brushes to the porous surfaces of sponges, your makeup kit can harbour a host of bacteria and fungi. Read more »
March 01
Africa: Measles Is One of the Deadliest and Most Contagious Infectious Diseases - and One of the Most Easily Preventable
"You don't count your children until the measles has passed." Dr. Samuel Katz, one of the pioneers of the first measles vaccine in the late 1950s to early 1960s, regularly heard… Read more »
March 04
South Africa: South Africa Has More Than 4 Million People Living With Diabetes - Study Shows Many Aren't Getting Proper Treatment
Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects how the body turns food into energy. Read more »
March 01
Africa: Covid-19 Rapid Tests Still Work Against New Variants - Researchers Keep 'Testing the Tests,' and They Pass
By September 2020, just six months after COVID-19 triggered shutdowns across the U.S., it was clear that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, had mutated from its original… Read more »
March 03
South Africa: Big Companies, Like Nestlé, Are Funding Health Research in South Africa - Why This Is Wrong
In 2021, the director of the African Research University Alliance Centre of Excellence in Food Security at the University of Pretoria was appointed to the board of the… Read more »
February 23
Africa: Early Covid-19 Research Is Riddled With Poor Methods and Low-Quality Results - a Problem for Science the Pandemic Worsened but Didn't Create
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers flooded journals with studies about the then-novel coronavirus. Many publications streamlined the peer-review process for COVID-19… Read more »
February 21
Africa: Outrage Culture Is a Big, Toxic Problem. Why Do We Take Part? and How Can We Stop?
"Outrage culture" is pervasive in the digital age. It refers to our collective tendency to react, often with intense negativity, to developments around us. Read more »
February 28
Africa: Mounting Research Shows That Covid-19 Leaves Its Mark On the Brain, Including With Significant Drops in IQ Scores
From the very early days of the pandemic, brain fog emerged as a significant health condition that many experience after COVID-19. Read more »
February 27
Cameroon: Benefits of Using Cleaner Cooking Fuels Are Blunted in Urban Areas Where Outdoor Air Is Polluted
Household air pollution from cooking, heating and lighting with fuels like wood, charcoal and kerosene poses a substantial global health problem. Read more »
February 24
South Africa: Pregnant Women in South Africa Should Be Offered Social Grants - It'll Save the State Money in the Long Run
A baby's first 1,000 days, from the time of conception until their second birthday, is a crucial window of opportunity to optimise their potential - through healthy nutrition for… Read more »
February 21
Africa: 80 Percent of Premature Baby Deaths Happen in Poorer Countries. Five Simple Measures That Can Help Save Them
Worldwide in 2020 a baby died every 40 seconds because of complications of prematurity. Preterm birth is the leading cause of death among children under 5 years old. Read more »
February 13
Africa: Why Is Free Time Still So Elusive?
There have been massive gains in productivity over the past century. Read more »
February 21
Kenya: Antibiotic Use On Kenya's Dairy Farms Is Putting Consumers and Animals At Risk
Farmers often use antibiotics to keep their livestock healthy. They're sometimes used as "quick fixes", to avoid more costly management measures like regular disinfection, waste… Read more »