December 05, 2022
Africa: Pharma's Expensive Gaming of the Drug Patent System Is Successfully Countered By the Medicines Patent Pool
Biomedical innovation reached a new era during the COVID-19 pandemic as drug development went into overdrive. But the ways that brand companies license their patented drugs grant… Read more »
South Africa: More South Africans Are Smoking - Higher Taxes and Stronger Law Enforcement Are Needed
Tobacco use imposes a significant health and economic burden on countries. Research estimates that the cost of smoking in South Africa amounted to 0.97% of the country's GDP in… Read more »
December 04, 2022
South Africa: Street Food Keeps Johannesburg Going - but Working Conditions of Vendors Are Unhealthy
Informal vendors are a common feature in urban areas. Also known as street vendors, they sell products or provide services on a public road, in a regulated market or in other… Read more »
December 01, 2022
South Africa: Mini Bio-Devices Could Help TB Patients Stick to Their Treatments
Imagine the scenario: you've been told you have a disease that will kill you. But, the doctor adds, your life can be saved if you diligently take your medication. Don't skip a day,… Read more »
Africa: Twitter Lifted Its Ban On Covid Misinformation - Research Shows This Is a Grave Risk to Public Health
Twitter's decision to no longer enforce its COVID-19 misinformation policy, quietly posted on the site's rules page and listed as effective Nov. 23, 2022, has researchers and… Read more »
Africa: Ventilation Reduces the Risk of Covid. So Why Are We Still Ignoring It?
At the end of the third year of the pandemic, we are no longer surprised to hear we're in a new wave of infection. It's fuelled by new sub-variants of the virus that may evade… Read more »
November 29, 2022
South Africa: South Africa's Prisons Are a Breeding Ground for the Spread of TB. Our Model Shows How
South African prisons are famously overcrowded. Prison populations are believed to exceed capacity by an overall 33%, although that number jumps to over 200% at some facilities,… Read more »
November 30, 2022
Nigeria: Covid Deepened Inequalities in HIV Treatment - What We Learnt in Nigeria
The 2022 World AIDS Day theme is Equalize. The reason for this focus is that HIV reflects economic and social inequity. People with low socio-economic status are worst affected by… Read more »
South Africa: Covid Affected Access to HIV Treatment - the Stories of Migrant Women in South Africa Show How
South Africa has made massive strides in the fight against HIV. One of the country's flagship interventions has been the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.… Read more »
South Africa: Ending HIV As a Public Health Threat - 3 Essential Reads
In 2014 the United Nations set an ambitious goal: to end the AIDS pandemic by the year 2030. Read more »
Africa: Overweight Women May Be At Highest Risk of Long Covid - New Research
While hundreds of thousands of people are still getting COVID every day across the globe, reassuringly, the number of people dying as a result of the infection has dropped… Read more »
Africa: What Covid Has Taught Us About Sharing Our Emotions - and Why Now's a Good Time to Share Again
Although they were only two-and-a-half years ago, the first months of the COVID pandemic and ensuing lockdowns seem like a distant past. Read more »
November 29, 2022
South Africa: Injectable HIV Prevention Drug Shows Promise - We Worked Out How Much South Africa Should Pay for It
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an HIV prevention method. It is taken by people who are HIV negative, so that if they are unknowingly exposed to HIV, the drug will prevent the… Read more »
Africa: Six Common Covid Myths Busted By a Virologist and a Public Health Expert
Almost three years into the pandemic, myths and misinformation remain widespread. Here we, a virologist and a public health researcher, debunk some common misconceptions about… Read more »
November 28, 2022
Africa: HIV Prevention - New Injection Could Boost the Fight, but Some Hurdles Remain
While the world has focused on the COVID pandemic for nearly three years, less and less attention is being paid to HIV. However, HIV is still a global problem. In 2021, according… Read more »
November 27, 2022
Africa: Covid Nasal Sprays May One Day Prevent and Treat Infection. Here's Where the Science Is Up to
We have vaccines to boost our immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. We have medicines you can take at home (and in hospital) to treat COVID. Now researchers… Read more »
Africa: RSV FAQ - What Is RSV? Who Is At Risk? When Should I Seek Emergency Care for My Child?
What is RSV? Read more »
November 24, 2022
Africa: Journalists Reporting On the Covid-19 Pandemic Relied On Research That Had Yet to Be Peer Reviewed
A story on gender inequity in scientific research industries. A deep dive into the daily rhythms of the immune system. A look at vaccine effectiveness for COVID-19 variants. These… Read more »
Africa: Cheaper, Tougher, Less Toxic - New Alloys Show Promise in Developing Artificial Limbs
Titanium is a strong, resilient and relatively light metal. Its properties have also been well studied; scientists know a great deal about it. All of this makes it the ideal base… Read more »
November 23, 2022
Africa: Just Because Someone Had Covid Before They Had a Heart Attack Doesn't Mean It Was the Cause
Last week ABC journalist and physician Norman Swan suggested the heart attacks of two high profile people over the past year were unlikely to be a coincidence. The suggestion was… Read more »
Africa: Long Covid Stigma May Encourage People to Hide the Condition
An estimated 2.1 million people are living with long COVID in the UK alone. We recently asked 888 people in the UK with long COVID about their experiences of stigma, and 95% of… Read more »
Nigeria: People With Vitiligo Face Stigma - A Skin Doctor Calls for Better Support
Vitiligo - a disease which causes pale patches to develop on the skin and mucous membranes - can be psychologically devastating. The change in skin colour may even create doubts… Read more »
November 24, 2022
Africa: My Rapid Antigen Tests Are Negative but I Still Think I Might Have Covid. Should I Get a PCR Test?
You've been exposed to COVID and are starting to get symptoms. But after a couple of days of testing with rapid antigen tests (RATs), your tests remain negative. Read more »
November 22, 2022
Africa: Scientists Uncovered the Structure of the Key Protein for a Future Hepatitis C Vaccine - Here's How They Did It
The hepatitis C virus, or HCV, causes a chronic liver infection that can lead to permanent liver scarring and, in dire cases, cancer. It affects around 71 million people worldwide… Read more »
November 21, 2022
Uganda: Ebola - Schools Were Closed for Two Years During Covid, Now They Face More Closures - Something Must Change
Children in Uganda missed out on more school because of the COVID pandemic than their peers anywhere else in the world. An estimated 15 million pupils in the East African nation… Read more »