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The HIV epidemic 40 years on: 5 essential reads on breakthroughs, blind spots...
In June 1981 The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a rare form of pneumonia in young gay men in California. Although they didn’t know it at the time, these were the first...
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TB: gene editing could add new power to a 100-year-old vaccine
Tuberculosis dates back more than 9,000 years. It is the most infectious bacterial disease and in 2022 10.6 million people fell ill with it. Of these 23% occurred in Africa.The only vaccine against...
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11 million Nigerian children are going hungry: how this hurts their health...
Unicef, the UN agency for children, reported in June 2024 that around 11 million Nigerian children were experiencing severe child food poverty. The report says this translates to one in every three...
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South African teens are struggling: Western Cape study shows 33% have...
In South Africa, little research has been done on depression and anxiety among younger adolescents, those between the ages of 10 and 14. Existing studies have primarily targeted older adolescents and...
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Babies in Nigeria are being born with antibiotic resistant bacteria
Babies born with colistin-resistant bacteria may have a higher chance of acquiring future drug-resistant infections.Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhotoSepsis occurs when one’s immune system has an extreme...
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Teenage girls in Africa face shocking rates of physical and sexual abuse in...
Nearly a quarter of adolescent girls between the ages of 15 and 19 who have been in a relationship will have suffered intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20. This is one of the findings of...
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Mpox cases are soaring in Africa – what must be done to prevent a global...
Alarmed by the surge in mpox cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has taken the unprecedented step of declaring the outbreak sweeping through African countries a continental...
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Mpox outbreak in Africa was neglected – it could now turn into the next...
The mpox outbreak in Africa is yet another example of how infectious diseases perceived to be “someone else’s problem”, and affecting mainly poor, developing countries, may suddenly pose unexpected...
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Sex and alcohol in Nigeria: marketing tactics send dangerous messages to...
Nigeria has a high rate of heavy drinking among young people. One study found that 55.8% of teenagers between 15 and 19 years old had engaged in binge drinking in the past month. The World Health...
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Genetically modified mosquitoes and malaria in Africa: top scientist shares...
Every year, mosquitoes kill more people than any other animal. According to the World Malaria Report (2023), the African continent bears the brunt of the most deadly mosquito-borne disease, malaria....
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How do people choose what food to buy? Answers depend on what you ask – so we...
People buying and selling food at a farmers' market in Chad's capital city, N'Djamena.Issouf Sanogo/AFPYou’re in a shop or market and you’re buying food for the next day. How do you choose what to buy?...
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How does a disease spread from animals to humans? A lot has to do with...
COVID stunned the world with an unanticipated pandemic. Now mpox, a disease which originated in animals, has been declared a global public health emergency.In this edited extract from his new book...
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Mpox vaccines: where they come from and what stands in the way of...
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO) have declared the latest outbreak of mpox in Africa a health emergency. An epidemic in the Democratic...
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Burnout and bias can lead to poor care during childbirth – we created a...
An estimated 800 women die every day across the world as a result of pregnancy-related complications. Most deaths (95%) occur in low- and middle-income countries. Two-thirds are in sub-Saharan Africa....
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Mpox in the DRC: children are at high risk – health expert explains why
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that children, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems are at higher risk from the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Reports...
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Mpox could spread into conflict zones in east Africa – how to manage the...
Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda are some of the east African countries that have reported cases of mpox – a viral infectious disease – in the latest outbreak which started in the Democratic Republic...
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Kenya’s new social health insurance fund wants to improve care for mothers...
Kenya has made strides in maternal and child health over the past decade. Preventable complications related to pregnancy still result in about 5,000 maternal deaths annually, however. I am a health...
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South Africa is failing its youngest children – report flags critical gaps in...
Nearly 10 years ago South Africa outlined its commitment to invest in the health and development of young children. The National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy of 2015 detailed...
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South Africa has a good childhood vaccination system – what’s stopping it...
The two public health interventions that have had the greatest impact on the world’s health are clean water and vaccines. Professors Susan Goldstein and Haroon Saloojee assess South Africa’s child...
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Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the world. 5 reads that could save...
Every year breast cancer claims more than 650,000 lives worldwide.Survival rates have been recorded to be as high as 90% in high income countries. In sub-Saharan Africa the rate is less than 40%.A...
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Smokers have a higher level of harmful bacteria in the mouth – new study
A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 8 million people die annually from smoking related complications. Despite efforts by governments and various organisations to...
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When medicines don’t work: eliminating neglected tropical diseases will...
A major health challenge of our time is when drugs no longer work to treat infections. This happens when the agents that cause infections – they may be bacteria, viruses or fungi – become resistant to...
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Rushing or delaying decisions is linked to anxiety and depression in young...
Each day we make thousands of decisions, starting with what to have for breakfast and what to wear. We make so many decisions that we don’t keep count.But it’s important to understand the way we make...
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Kenya’s laws make it a crime to attempt suicide – this hurts vulnerable people
One in every 100 deaths globally is by suicide. Each year, more than 700,000 people die by suicide. A staggering 77% of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries, with the African region...
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Refugees in east Africa suffer from high levels of depression, making it...
By the end of 2023, more than 100 million people globally had been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence, fear of persecution, and human rights violations. The majority are hosted in low- and...
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