South Africa: Drink Up, It's Closing Time - South African Study Calculates That Limiting Opening Hours Will Save Lives

South Africans are among the heaviest drinkers in the world. The country has the highest per capita rate of alcohol consumption in Africa. Excessive drinking is especially… Read more »

Africa: Doctor Dog - How Our Canine Companions Can Help Us Detect Covid and Other Diseases

While we humans generally experience the world through sight, dogs use scent to learn about the environment around them. What their nose knows is crucial for finding food, mates… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Scientists Need to Use Wastewater to Find Drug-Resistant Bacteria

People often think of wastewater as serving no purpose. But it can be a valuable source of information. Wastewater is increasingly recognised as a significant environmental… Read more »

Africa: Building a Nutrition Programme? Understanding How People Behave Is Key

Undernutrition contributes to up to 45% of child deaths in African countries. At the same time, child obesity rates have doubled between 2006 and 2016. More than 40% of women of… Read more »

South Africa: Cholera - a Symptom of Two Decades of Continued Sewage Pollution and Neglect

South Africans have expressed outrage at the deaths of at least 15 residents of Hammanskraal, in the city of Tshwane. The deaths were caused by cholera - a diarrhoeal disease… Read more »

Africa: Pivotal Points in the Covid-19 Pandemic - 5 Essential Reads

Experts have made it clear that the end of the COVID-19 national emergency, which was lifted on May 11, 2023, does not mean an end to the pandemic. But this shift signals a… Read more »

Africa: Architecture After Covid - How the Pandemic Inspired Building Designers

Walking during lockdowns, following protocols and restrictions, city dwellers witnessed the birth of a new architectural aesthetic. Read more »

Africa: How Does Food Get Contaminated? The Unsafe Habits That Kill More Than 400,000 People a Year

Unsafe foods, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), contribute to poor health, including impaired growth and development, micro-nutrient deficiencies, noncommunicable… Read more »

Rwanda: Thriving in the Face of Adversity - Resilient Gorillas Reveal Clues About Overcoming Childhood Misfortune

In 1974, an infant mountain gorilla was born in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Researchers named him Titus. As is typical for young gorillas in the wild, Titus spent the first… Read more »

Kenya: Kenya's Starvation Cult Left Hundreds Dead - a Psychologist's View On How to Support People As They Process Tragedy

In early April 2023, Kenyan police discovered a mass grave linked to a Pentecostal church in the coastal town of Malindi. By the end of the month, at least 110 bodies had been dug… Read more »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »