May 11, 2023
Africa: Our Research Shows Home Working Didn't Harm Mental Health At the Start of the Pandemic - but Things Changed Later On
One of the key changes to our daily lives brought about by the COVID pandemic was, for those able to do so, working from home. According to UK data, almost 60% of people were… Read more »
Africa: African Scientists Are Working to Pool Data That Decodes Diseases - a Giant Step
Infectious disease outbreaks in African countries are, unfortunately, all too common. Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Uganda; Marburg virus in Guinea or Equatorial… Read more »
May 09, 2023
Africa: RSV - We Finally Have a Vaccine for This Deadly Virus
The first vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine, named Arexvy, will be given to people 60 years… Read more »
Africa: Many People Are Tired of Grappling With Long Covid - Here Are Some Evidence-Based Ways to Counter It
A patient of mine, once a marathon runner, now gets tired just walking around the block. She developed COVID-19 during the 2020 Christmas holiday and saw me during the summer of… Read more »
May 08, 2023
Nigeria: Remote Teaching in Nigeria and South Africa Got a Covid Wake-Up Call - How to Capitalise On It
Universities had to deal with many anxieties and uncertainties during the early days of the COVID pandemic. One of these was how to move all of their teaching online. For some, the… Read more »
May 07, 2023
South Africa: Mental Health - Almost Half of Johannesburg Students in New Study Screened Positive for Probable Depression
Depression is a mental health disorder characterised by a persistently low mood or loss of interest in activities. It causes significant impairment in daily life. Possible causes… Read more »
May 03, 2023
Africa: Thousands of Unknown Viruses Discovered in Baby Poo - Why This Is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing
An international team of scientists who spent five years studying the poo of 647 Danish babies found something astonishing. The nappy samples contained 10,000 species of virus -… Read more »
Africa: Arcturus - What to Know About the New Covid Variant, Omicron Xbb.1.16
A new COVID variant XBB.1.16, or "Arcturus", has now been identified in at least 34 countries including the UK. Read more »
May 02, 2023
Africa: Four Things You Need to Know About Having a Caesarean Section
If you're pregnant or planning to have a baby soon, you've probably been given lots of advice and information about what you might experience during and after the birth. But less… Read more »
May 04, 2023
Africa: Working in an Office Can Harm Your Health - Depending On Where It Is and the Length of Your Commute
In the past year, a growing number of companies have asked employees to return to the office either full- or part-time after years of pandemic-induced remote working. While this is… Read more »
May 02, 2023
Africa: Does Our Gut Microbiota Really Influence Our Health and Life Expectancy?
The intestinal microbiota is the set of bacteria and viruses that live inside your gut. Microbiota perform a variety of functions, including digesting food and protecting against… Read more »
May 01, 2023
Africa: Every Cancer Is Unique - Why Different Cancers Require Different Treatments, and How Evolution Drives Drug Resistance
Cancer is an evolutionary disease. The same forces that turned dinosaurs into birds turn normal cells into cancer: genetic mutations and traits that confer a survival advantage. Read more »
April 27, 2023
Africa: The Importance of Solitude - Why Time On Your Own Can Sometimes Be Good for You
Spending time alone can induce fear in a lot of people, which is understandable. At the same time, the difference between moments of solitude and loneliness is often misunderstood. Read more »
April 25, 2023
Africa: African Vaccines - Local Manufacturers Are Struggling to Access the Market - What Must Change
Two recent developments in South Africa have underscored the opportunities - and challenges - facing vaccine production on the continent. Read more »
April 24, 2023
Africa: The Dirty Truth About Your Phone - And Why You Need to Stop Scrolling in the Bathroom
We carry them everywhere, take them to bed, to the bathroom and for many people they're the first thing they see in the morning - more than 90% of the world owns or uses a mobile… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria Has Africa's Highest Malaria Death Rate - Progress Is Being Made, but It's Not Enough
Malaria is a major public health problem and can be life-threatening. The disease, mostly found in tropical countries, is transmitted to humans by the female Anopheles mosquito.… Read more »
Africa: Hope Is On the Horizon for a Malaria-Free Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is disproportionally affected by malaria. The region accounts for 95% of the world's malaria cases. The disease kills an African child every 60 seconds. Read more »
April 18, 2023
Africa: If 1% of Covid-19 Cases Result in Death, Does That Mean You Have a 1% Chance of Dying If You Catch It?
As of April 2023, about 1% of people who contracted COVID-19 ended up dying. Does that mean you have a 1% chance of dying from COVID-19? Read more »
Kenya: Kenya Should Decriminalise Homosexuality - 4 Compelling Reasons Why
Kenya has recently seen the increasing visibility of sexual and gender minorities. However, this has been met with a growing backlash. Read more »
April 17, 2023
Africa: Predicting Epidemics Isn't Easy. We've Created a Global Dataset to Help
The world has recently seen a number of high-profile cross-border disease outbreaks and pandemics. The COVID pandemic and multi-country Mpox (monkeypox) outbreaks are just two… Read more »
April 12, 2023
Africa: Why Focusing On Covid Deaths Undercounts the Health Harms of the Pandemic - New Research
More than three years into the COVID pandemic, both the virus and the measures taken to control its spread have affected people's lives across the globe. But how can we fully… Read more »
Ethiopia: Community Health Workers in Ethiopia Set Out to Promote Health
Ethiopia has made significant progress in supporting gender equality and girls' empowerment. Rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancy have decreased substantially. Access to… Read more »
South Africa: Addressing Historical Injustice Key to Balancing Diet Access in South Africa
South Africa has a food crisis. The food system - made up of all of the activities and actors involved in the production, processing, transportation, selling, consumption and… Read more »
April 11, 2023
South Africa: South African Doctors' Criminal Charges for Mistakes May Have Unintended Consequences
Claims for financial compensation for medical mistakes in South Africa have been on the rise since 2007. Recently, however, criminal charges for medical errors have also become… Read more »
April 10, 2023
Africa: Cervical Cancer Can Be Beaten - the Key Is Vaccinating Young Girls
In 2020 the World Health Organization introduced a plan to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat by 2030. The first step towards this goal is to have 90% of girls… Read more »