March 15, 2023
Africa: Looting and Decay - How The Pandemic Wrought Real Damage to African Heritage
The Covid-19 pandemic will long be remembered for the lockdowns it imposed and the millions of lives it stole, particularly among the elderly. A recent Unesco report shows that it… Read more »
March 16, 2023
Kenya: Kenya Introduced Free Maternal Health Services a Decade Ago - It's Been a Success, Saving Lives
Maternal and newborn deaths are a major public health problem in Kenya. In 2020 the maternal mortality ratio was 530 deaths per 100,000 live births. This is much higher than the… Read more »
South Africa: Medicine Stockouts Are a Problem in South Africa's Clinics - How Pharmacist Assistants Can Help
Primary healthcare clinics are the main healthcare access point for millions of South Africans. Read more »
South Africa: Long Covid - What We Know About How the Condition Affects Mental Health
Many people have persistent symptoms after recovering from COVID, a condition termed "long COVID". The UK's Office for National Statistics estimates 1.8 million people in the UK… Read more »
March 14, 2023
Equatorial Guinea: Covid, Bird Flu, Mpox - a Virologist On Why We're Seeing So Many Viruses Emerge
From the widespread outbreak of mpox (formerly called monkeypox) in 2022, to the evolving bird flu situation, to recent cases of Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea, COVID isn't… Read more »
March 13, 2023
Africa: What the Research Shows About Risks of Myocarditis From Covid Vaccines Versus Risks of Heart Damage From Covid
Soon after the first COVID-19 vaccines appeared in 2021, reports of rare cases of heart inflammation, or myocarditis, began to surface. Read more »
Africa: Droughts Bring Disease - Here Are 4 Ways They Do It
Countries in the Horn of Africa have been hit by a multiyear drought. Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda are expected to continue getting below-normal rainfall in 2023. Excluding… Read more »
Equatorial Guinea: Marburg Virus Outbreaks Are Increasing in Frequency and Geographic Spread - Three Virologists Explain
The World Health Organization confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus disease in the central African country of Equatorial Guinea on Feb. 13, 2023. To date, there have… Read more »
March 10, 2023
Africa: Three Years On, The Covid Pandemic May Never End - But The Public Health Impact Is Becoming More Manageable
Three years ago, on March 11 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus first formally described COVID-19 as a pandemic. Read more »
March 09, 2023
Africa: Suicide Attempts Rose Among Children and Adolescents During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Especially for Girls
Will the kids be alright? There was hope that children and adolescents would "bounce back" as the pandemic progressed, but sadly, the data suggest otherwise. Read more »
South Africa: Depression, Anxiety and Childhood Trauma- Study Explores Links, Prevalence and Who's Most At Risk
Mental health problems among adults are an ever-increasing public health concern. These include depression, anxiety, and conditions associated with bad childhood experiences such… Read more »
March 08, 2023
Africa: Disputes Over Covid's Origins Reveal an Intelligence Community in Disarray. Here Are 4 Fixes We Need Before the Next Pandemic
A recent Wall Street Journal article reported on new, classified intelligence from the US Department of Energy about the origins of COVID. It concluded with "low confidence" that… Read more »
March 07, 2023
Africa: Long Covid Linked to Air Pollution Exposure in Young Adults - New Study
Although COVID-19 infections are typically less severe in young adults, that doesn't mean they aren't still at risk of complications from COVID-19. For example, around one in 25… Read more »
Africa: The Pandemic Exposed Gender Inequality - Let's Seize the Opportunity to Remedy It
This year, we are commemorating International Women's Day alongside the three-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more »
Kenya: A New Invasive Mosquito Has Been Found in Kenya - What This Means for Malaria Control
The Kenya Medical Research Institute recently detected an invasive mosquito species in Laisamis and Saku subcounties of Marsabit county in Kenya's northern region. Read more »
March 01, 2023
Africa: Curious Kids - What Happens to Your Brain If You Don't Get Enough Sleep?
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. Have a question you'd like an expert to answer? Send it to CuriousKidsCanada@theconversation.com. Read more »
February 28, 2023
Africa: How to Ditch 'Fomo' and Foster 'Jomo' - the Joy of Missing Out
Have you ever felt a sense of joy because you knew you were missing out on an invitation to a party, shiny new opportunities or the latest social media posts and influencer trends… Read more »
March 06, 2023
Ghana: Bipolar Disorder Is Poorly Understood in Ghana - Knowing the Facts Can Help Prevent Suffering
Attitudes to mental health conditions are often influenced by matters of awareness and belief systems. Bipolar disorder is one of the conditions that's frequently misunderstood and… Read more »
March 03, 2023
South Africa: Tabloid Newspapers Are Seen As Sensationalist - but South Africa's Daily Sun Flipped That Script During Covid-19
Tabloid journalism usually refers to short, easily readable and mostly human-interest news, presented in a highly visual and sensationalist style. "Tabloidisation" has become… Read more »
February 28, 2023
Africa: When Should We Worry About Bird Flu Making Us Sick? When We See Human-to-Human Transmission - and There's No Evidence of That Yet
Bird flu has been causing growing concern in recent months, with hundreds of millions of birds dying of the virus since October 2021. This is the largest global outbreak. Read more »
February 26, 2023
Africa: Target Single Men to Counter New Covid-19 Variants, Health Survey of More Than 45,000 People Reveals
It is almost three years since the World Health Organisation characterised the Covid-19 outbreak as a pandemic. Working at breakneck speed, scientists managed to produce effective… Read more »
February 28, 2023
South Africa: Working Women Proved Their Resilience During Covid - As a Result They've Enhanced Their Well-Being
One of the outcomes of the COVID pandemic is that people's working lives have changed. Working at home and hybrid work have become prevalent, after constantly changing government… Read more »
February 27, 2023
Africa: Cough Syrup Can Harm Children - Experts Warn of Contamination Risks
The recent deaths of over 300 children in Africa and Asia have prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn about the use of "substandard and falsified" medical products.… Read more »
February 25, 2023
Africa: Niger Is Africa's Fastest Growing Country - How to Feed 25 Million More People in 30 Years
Niger, a landlocked country in the dry Sahel region of Africa, struggles to feed its 25 million people. It currently ranks 115th out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index,… Read more »
February 23, 2023
Africa: Rejecting Science Has a Long History - the Pandemic Showed What Happens When You Ignore This
Fear engulfed everyone during the pandemic. Yet when a vaccine became available, it was met with fierce resistance. Anti-vaccination crowds formed, and some of these groups argued… Read more »