Health + Medicine – Views & Research

Toilets can make Africa’s roads safer, according to this new study

Festival Godwin Boateng, University of Oxford

A man walking around the perimeter of water cages with a green layer on the top

Fish farming is booming in Lake Victoria, but pollution and disease are wiping out millions. How to reduce losses

Ekta Patel, International Livestock Research Institute ; Christopher Aura, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute; Eric Teplitz, Cornell University, and Kathryn Fiorella, Cornell University

Child's drawing of a head with arms and legs

Violence is a normal part of life for many young children: study traces the mental health impacts

Kirsten A Donald, University of Cape Town and Lucinda Tsunga, University of Cape Town

People in protective clothing and masks spray a smoky substance on the street

COP30 report reveals how climate change is spreading infectious diseases to new regions

Tulio de Oliveira, Stellenbosch University; Cheryl Baxter, Stellenbosch University, and Maambele Khosa, Stellenbosch University

Strokes are on the rise in Africa: why the continent needs its own care guidelines

Nicholas Aderinto, MD, University of Utah

Sex for money: South African study reveals the harm that ‘blessers’ can do to young women

Gavin George, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Hands of a woman and an older man clasped together

Social media can cause stress in real life – our ‘digital thermometer’ helps track it

Herkulaas MvE Combrink, University of the Free State

A lot of smartphones held in hand with social media terms on the screens.

Veiled girl with her hand covering her eyes, pulled by the hand of an adult

Child marriage is still common in the DRC: what’s driving it and how to encourage change

Sathiya Susuman Appunni, University of the Western Cape

Which cooking oil is best? Asking how they’re made could tell you more

Serge Wich, Liverpool John Moores University and Erik Meijaard, University of Kent

African healthcare workers in a hospital ward wearing blue clothing, face masks and gloves.

Rift Valley fever: what it is, how it spreads and how to stop it

Marc Souris, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)

New discovery reveals chimpanzees in Uganda use flying insects to tend their wounds

Kayla Kolff, Osnabrück University

Taking down malaria’s bodyguards: scientists target parasite’s secret defence system

Tawanda Zininga, Stellenbosch University

Cancer drug quality in Africa is a worry: what we found in a 4-country study

Marya Lieberman, University of Notre Dame

Pregnant teens in Kenya’s low-income areas avoid health care because of fear and stigma

Anthony Idowu Ajayi, African Population and Health Research Center; Caroline W. Kabiru, African Population and Health Research Center, and Anne Achieng

A pregnant young woman holding her belly

Young mothers in Kenya face a higher risk of giving birth early: study explores why

Obasanjo Bolarinwa, York St John University and Kobi Ajayi, Texas A&M University

A nurse attends to a small baby in an incubator

Africa imports over 70% of its medicines. Making active ingredients locally would change this

Cloudius Ray Sagandira, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

Fruit juices in South Africa are getting a free ride: why they should have the same health warning labels as fizzy drinks

Siphiwe Dlamini, University of the Witwatersrand

Young woman holding a glass of orange juice

Child malnutrition in Kenya: AI model can forecast rates six months before they become critical

Laura Ferguson, University of Southern California and Bistra Dilkina, University of Southern California

A woman cradling a crying baby on her lap while holding a high-nutrient food pack

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Health research insights

AI - Artificial Intelligence and machine learning concept

Vaccines and motherhood: are AI generated health messages working in Kenya and Nigeria?

Yewande O. Addie, University of Florida

Birth control in Africa: study tracks the use of long-acting contraception in 26 countries

Obasanjo Bolarinwa, York St John University

Hand holding a roughly T-shaped device against a diagram

First malaria treatment for babies is a major step to ending the disease in Africa – biochemist

Fortunate Mokoena, North-West University

What students eat: I conducted a survey at a South African university’s cafes – the results are scary

Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira, University of Cape Town

A young woman sitting on the grass outside eating a brown bread and cheese sandwich

How far is your closest hospital or clinic? Public health researchers explain why Africa needs up-to-date health facility databases

Peter M Macharia, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp and Emelda Okiro, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme

People outside a single storey building, some with bicycles. Palm trees in the background.

More health research insights

Health challenges

HIV is on the rise among older Africans, but care and research overlook this group – lessons from Kenya and South Africa

Francesc Xavier Gomez-Olive Casas, University of the Witwatersrand and Luicer Anne Ingasia Olubayo, University of the Witwatersrand

Drought can make farmers feel worried and hopeless: Ghana study finds social networks help

Seth Asare Okyere, University of Pittsburgh; Matthew Abunyewah, Charles Darwin University; Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie, Charles Darwin University; Mitchell Keith Byrne, Charles Darwin University; Seth Opoku Mensah, University of Technology Sydney, and Stephen Leonard Mensah, University of Memphis

Cracked earth with a few small plants growing in it

Eating wild meat carries serious health risks – why it still happens along the Kenya-Tanzania border

Ekta Patel, International Livestock Research Institute and Julia E. Fa, Manchester Metropolitan University

A woman chopping up a medium-sized piece of meat that she has placed on a piece of wood

A quarter of the world’s population are adolescents: major report sets out health and wellbeing trends

Alex Ezeh, Drexel University; Russell Viner, UCL, and Sarah Baird, George Washington University

Girls in white robes and headscarves sit at a desk in a school classroom, writing in exercise books

Preventing the next pandemic: One Health researcher calls for urgent action

Hung Nguyen-Viet, International Livestock Research Institute

Hands in blue gloves holding a test tube, and more test tubes in the foreground labelled Ebola

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Mind and body

View from above of brown fragmented leaves in a dish on a wooden surface

South Africa’s rooibos tea: can it improve digestion?

Mariska Lilly, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

4 tips for a healthy heart from a biokineticist

Lynn Smith, University of Johannesburg

How to protect your eyes in the digital age – expert in eye and vision science

Daniela Oehring, University of Plymouth

Why you should avoid doing the exact same workout everyday if you want to get fit

Dan Gordon, Anglia Ruskin University; Jonathan Melville, Anglia Ruskin University, and Ruby Cain, Anglia Ruskin University

A young couple sprint down a road outdoors.

The best and worst meat replacements for your health, your wallet and the planet – new research

Marco Springmann, University of Oxford