Africa: AI Chatbots Can Boost Public Health in Africa - Why Language Inclusion Matters

Language technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI) hold significant potential for public health. From outbreak detection systems that scan global news in real time,… Read more »

Africa: Is It Okay to Boil Water More Than Once, or Should You Empty the Kettle Every Time?

The kettle is a household staple practically everywhere - how else would we make our hot drinks? Read more »

Africa: From Tea Towels to TV Remotes - Eight Everyday Bacterial Hotspots - and How to Clean Them

From your phone to your sponge, your toothbrush to your trolley handle, invisible armies of bacteria are lurking on the everyday objects you touch the most. Most of these microbes… Read more »

Africa: Donor-Egg Pregnancies May Come With Higher Rates of Serious Complications - Here's What You Need to Know

More women than ever are carrying babies conceived with someone else's egg - but few are told that this might carry greater health risks. Read more »

Africa: Guineafowl Can Outsmart Extreme Temperatures - We Spent a Year Finding Out How

Have you ever wondered how wild birds cope with baking hot afternoons and freezing cold mornings? Our new study has taken a close look at one of Africa's most familiar birds - the… Read more »

Africa: Do Women Have to Pee More Often? the Answer Is Surprisingly Complex

"Are we stopping again already?" It's a familiar complaint on family road trips and one that's often aimed at women. From sitcoms to stand-up routines, the idea that women have… Read more »

South Africa: Cape Town's Sewage Treatment Isn't Coping - Scientists Are Worried About What the City Is Telling the Public

Urban water bodies - rivers, lakes and oceans - are in trouble globally. Large sewage volumes damage the open environment, and new chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds don't… Read more »

Egypt: Toxic Fungus From King Tutankhamun's Tomb Yields Cancer-Fighting Compounds - New Study

In November 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter peered through a small hole into the sealed tomb of King Tutankhamun. When asked if he could see anything, he replied: "Yes, wonderful… Read more »

Africa: Men and Family Planning - Studies From 23 African Countries Reveal Gaps in What We Know

When people think about family planning in Africa, they often picture women visiting clinics, women making decisions, and women bearing the responsibility. Yet family planning… Read more »

Africa: The Pandemic Is Still Disrupting Young People's Careers

Unlike previous economic downturns, the COVID pandemic created a crisis that disrupted both education and employment, abruptly halting young people's emerging careers and clouding… Read more »

Africa: How Far Is Your Closest Hospital or Clinic? Public Health Researchers Explain Why Africa Needs Up-to-Date Health Facility Databases

The lack of reliable information about health facilities across sub-Saharan Africa became very clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid a surge in emergency care needs, information… Read more »

South Africa: Decades of South African Research Reveal Key Strategies to Reduce Water Contamination in Fruit and Veg

Water is essential at all stages of food production, from irrigation to food processing to washing fruit and vegetables before we eat them. Crops and livestock need it to grow, but… Read more »

Uganda: How Does Marburg Virus Spread Between Species? Young Ugandan Scientist's Photos Give Important Clues

In the shadows of Python Cave, Uganda, a leopard leaps from a guano mound - formed by bat excrement - and sinks its teeth into a bat. But this is no ordinary bat colony. The… Read more »

South Africa: Women Trapped With Abusers - South Africa's Covid Lockdowns Exposed Serious Protection Gaps

The unintended consequences of measures introduced to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus from 2020 to 2022 have been studied extensively. Research in South Africa shows that… Read more »

Africa: Long Covid Puzzle Pieces Are Falling Into Place - the Picture Is Unsettling

Since 2020, the condition known as long COVID-19 has become a widespread disability affecting the health and quality of life of millions of people across the globe and costing… Read more »

Africa: Invasive Mosquito Species Could Bring More Malaria to Africa's Urban Areas

A species of mosquito that can carry malaria - known as Anopheles stephensi - has invaded eastern Africa and is quickly moving across the region. Moina Spooner, from The… Read more »

Africa: Huge Disparities in C-Sections Highlights Inequalities in Healthcare

When pregnancy or childbirth go wrong, access to Caesarean section - usually known as C-section - can be the difference between life and death for both the woman and her baby. Read more »

Africa: We Should Take Fungal Infections More Seriously. Here's Why

When most healthy people think of fungal diseases, they often think of oral or vaginal thrush, nappy rash, fungal nail infections, and athlete's foot. Although these are very… Read more »

Africa: Why It's So Difficult to Tackle Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the 1990s diabetes was seen as a condition that mainly affected rich people in high income countries. Nowadays, it's one of the leading contributors to death in all countries in… Read more »

Africa: How Biotechnology Could Offer Hope for Snakebite Victims

Snakebite is a major public health burden for low-income countries in tropical parts of the world. There are around 5 million bites and 150,000 deaths every year. And about 400,000… Read more »

South Africa: E-Cigarettes May Help Smokers Cut Back but That Doesn't Mean They're Not Toxic

A recent study showing teenagers who use e-cigarettes are three times more likely to smoke normal cigarettes than those who don't amplifies the South African government's calls to… Read more »