September 05, 2022
Africa: The PPE Used Throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic Is Getting Tangled Up in Wildlife
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, masking has been one of the key public health measures put in place to combat the disease. Since March 2020, billions of disposable surgical masks… Read more »
September 04, 2022
Africa: Better Covid Vaccines Are On the Way. What Do They Do? And What Technology Might We See in Future?
Regulators in Australia and the United States last week approved Omicron-specific boosters, following approval in the United Kingdom in mid-August. Read more »
September 02, 2022
Zimbabwe: Health System Is in Intensive Care - How It Got There
Health systems are, at their core, meant to promote, restore or maintain health. Their objective is to improve the length and quality of citizens' life from the cradle to the… Read more »
September 04, 2022
South Africa: Only Elite Benefits From Black Economic Empowerment - and Covid-19 Proved It
More than two decades ago the South African government put in place a policy designed to redress racial imbalances in the country's economy. But, as I suggest in a recent paper,… Read more »
September 01, 2022
Africa: Will Omicron-Specific Booster Shots Be More Effective At Combating Covid-19? 5 Questions Answered
On Aug. 31, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of updated COVID-19 booster shots that are specifically tailored to combat the two most recent and contagious… Read more »
August 31, 2022
Nigeria: Waste Pickers in Lagos Tell Their Stories About a Dangerous Existence
Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, with a population of more than 15 million, generates an estimated 12,000 metric tonnes of waste daily, which comes to about 4.3 million tonnes of… Read more »
Africa: Long Covid - How Researchers Zero in On Self-Targeted Immune Attacks That May Lurk Behind It
For almost three years, scientists have raced to understand the immune responses in patients who develop severe COVID-19, with an enormous effort aimed at defining where healthy… Read more »
August 30, 2022
South Africa: Migrants in South Africa Have Access to Healthcare - Why It's Kicking Up a Storm
A political storm has erupted in South Africa after a video went viral showing the health minister for the Limpopo province - which borders Zimbabwe - berating a Zimbabwean woman… Read more »
August 29, 2022
South Africa: Covid Was a Setback for Indigenous Languages - Lecturers On What Went Wrong
South African indigenous languages are among those at risk of a serious decline due to the increasing use of digital technologies. By some estimates only 5% of the world's… Read more »
August 24, 2022
Africa: Got Allergies? You Could Be At Lower Risk of Catching Covid
To respond effectively to COVID, it's been important to understand who may be at higher risk of contracting the virus and developing more severe disease. Read more »
Africa: Misinformation Is Common to Covid-19 and HIV/Aids Pandemics - With Deadly Consequences
Since health officials confirmed the first COVID-19 cases, misinformation has spread just as quickly as the virus. Social media may have made the amount, variety and speed of… Read more »
August 23, 2022
Africa: Long Covid - Why It's So Hard to Tell How Many People Get It
In the weeks and months after a COVID infection, some people develop a variety of symptoms, commonly referred to as long COVID. Fatigue is the most common, affecting a little over… Read more »
Tanzania: TB Patients Have a Lower Quality of Life Than People Who Haven't Had the Disease
Numerous researchers have documented the quality of life and mental health of specific population groups. Examples include people living with HIV, the elderly, students, men who… Read more »
Africa: Did an Accidental 'Blood Plague' in World of Warcraft Help Scientists Model Covid Better? The Results Are In
Way before COVID, in 2005 the World of Warcraft game developers accidentally introduced an extremely virulent highly contagious disease into this game which then spread to infect… Read more »
August 22, 2022
Uganda: Efforts to Address Vitamin A Deficiency Miss the Mark
Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness. It also increases the risk of death from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea. There are… Read more »
August 19, 2022
Africa: Summer Colds - This May Explain Why So Many Have Suffered Them This Year
Most of us associate colds and the flu with colder weather. But that doesn't mean you can't still catch a cold during the summer. Some viruses are even more common in summer than… Read more »
Africa: How African Countries Coordinated the Response to Covid-19 - Lessons for Public Health
The COVID-19 pandemic spread much slower on the African continent than in the rest of the world, contrary to predictions. Read more »
August 18, 2022
Africa: How a Bike Accident Changed Me, By a Philosopher of Hope
Cycling once made me feel free unlike anything else. I loved the sensation of slicing through the air, flying past pedestrians and cars stalled in traffic. Where I live (in… Read more »
Africa: A Dog Has Caught Monkeypox From One of Its Owners, Highlighting Risk of the Virus Infecting Pets and Wild Animals
A dog in Paris has caught monkeypox from one of its owners, both of whom were infected with the virus, according to a scientific paper published on Aug. 10, 2022. This is the first… Read more »
Africa: We Studied How Covid Affects Mental Health and Brain Disorders - Here's What We Found
The occurrence of mental health conditions and neurological disorders among people recovering from COVID has been a concern since early in the pandemic. Several studies have shown… Read more »
Africa: Fake Research Can Be Harmful to Your Health - a New Study Offers a Tool for Rooting It Out
If you are suffering with chronic pain, diabetes, heart problems or any other condition, you want to be confident that your doctor will offer you an effective treatment. You… Read more »
August 16, 2022
Africa: Treating Monkeypox Like an STI May Help Control the Outbreak, but Stigma Is a Danger
The recent monkeypox global outbreak, now declared by the World Health Organization as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), is sadly yet another reason for… Read more »
August 18, 2022
Africa: Mosquito Species From Asia Poses Growing Risk to Africa's Anti-Malaria Efforts
The spread of the mosquito species Anopheles stephensi across Africa poses a significant problem to a continent already heavily burdened by malaria. Most - 90% - of the world's… Read more »
Africa: Mosquitoes - There's Malaria, Plus 5 Other Diseases They Pass On to Humans
Most people instantly associate mosquitoes with malaria. But these tiny flying insects can transmit a number of other diseases too. Read more »
August 17, 2022
Africa: Covid Vaccine - How the New 'Bivalent' Booster Will Target Omicron
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved a bivalent COVID booster vaccine, making it the first country in the world to do so. Read more »