Health + Medicine – Views & Research

HIV in South Africa: why rolling out a groundbreaking new shot will miss a critical group of men

Paul Bowen, University of Cape Town and Rajen Govender, University of South Africa; University of Cape Town

Unpaved road with small buildings and hill in the distance

Ebola outbreak in the DRC: four reasons it will be hard to contain

Jia B. Kangbai, Njala University

People wearing full body protective clothing

Why Africa – and the world – remain dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic

Oyewale Tomori, Nigerian Academy of Science

Four health workers stand in front of a brick building in head-to-toe protective gear as one disinfects the others' gloves.

What’s wrong with how US and Uganda plan to stop Ebola spreading

Katrine L. Wallace, University of Illinois Chicago

Bleeding and sepsis at childbirth are a danger to mothers: Sierra Leone study shows a simple screening tool can detect risk in time

Andrew Shennan, King's College London; Katy Kuhrt, King's College London, and Rossetta O. G. Cole, University of Sierra Leone

Gut health: why food alone won’t fix childhood stunting

Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Stellenbosch University and Ronelle Burger, Stellenbosch University

Hantavirus in Africa: why climate change, rats and weak surveillance are worrying scientists

Wolfgang Preiser, Stellenbosch University; Carla Mavian, University of Florida; Cheryl Baxter, Stellenbosch University; Richard Lessells, University of KwaZulu-Natal, and Tulio de Oliveira, Stellenbosch University

A rat in eating some food on what appears to be a dirty pavement

Ebola survivors struggle to return to normal lives: what I found out in Sierra Leone and Liberia

Kevin J.A. Thomas, Rice University

Person in protective clothing aims a device at another person's head

Group of women, some wearing veils on their heads, in a church building

In Sudan, a migrant community reveals a resistance to malaria: the genetic study helping shape medicine

David Comas, Universitat Pompeu Fabra; Instituto de Biología Evolutiva (IBE - CSIC - UPF) and Laura Vilà Valls, Universitat Pompeu Fabra; Instituto de Biología Evolutiva (IBE - CSIC - UPF)

Better-designed homes could cut three major child diseases by up to 44% – Tanzania trial

Steve Lindsay, Durham University; Jakob Brandtberg Knudsen, Royal Danish Academy; Lorenz von Seidlein, University of Oxford, and Salum Ahmed Mshamu, University of Oxford

A double storey house with many windows, futuristic looking, with a dozen people sitting outside chatting

‘Is all my struggle going to be wasted?’ Ghana study explores how mothers feel about early births

Puleng Segalo, University of South Africa and Jacob Owusu Sarfo, University of Cape Coast

The bias in medical research: Africa carries a huge disease burden but is missing from clinical trials

Bamba Gaye, MD, MPH, MSc, PhD, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar

Two women wearing white coats, caps and gloves in a laboratory

Why do so many African women bleach their skin? Study looks beyond what they tell researchers

Oyenike Balogun, Bentley University

Ending malaria in Africa: 5 essential reads on gains and challenges

Wale Fatade, The Conversation

Hands holding a needle and a small bottle

Africa is losing health workers when it can least afford to – a pattern rooted in colonial history

Danica Sims, University of Oxford

A group of people in white coats, in the street, some holding posters, some blowing whistles

Kidney disease is growing in Africa: big new study casts light on genetic risk factors

Segun Fatumo, Queen Mary University of London

Nigeria imports 70% of its medicines – why local manufacturing doesn’t meet demand

Efefiom Kofon, SOAS, University of London

Red and white capsules in a production line

Woman in a robe stands in a hospital ward as a nurse approaches

Maternity health services in Nigeria are failing women: 4 steps to better care

Obasanjo Bolarinwa, York St John University and Rebecca Tadokera, York St John University

No need to sign up for gym: even small movements have health benefits – research

Merling Phaswana, University of the Witwatersrand and Philippe Gradidge, University of the Witwatersrand

Dengue fever is a growing problem: why it’s so hard to beat with vaccines

Marielena Vogel Saivish, The University of Texas Medical Branch

South Africa’s new parental leave policy is designed for equality – but it could do better

Noreth Muller-Kluits, Stellenbosch University

Baby sleeping on a blanket; only the foot is visible

Women in Ghana can access safe abortions: why are so many still using unsafe methods?

D. Yaw Atiglo, University of Ghana and Charlotte Abra Esime Ofori, University of Ghana

Nurse measuring a patient's oxygen saturation level

Mental health laws ignore traditional care in Africa: insights from 5 countries

Deborah Oyine Aluh, University of Greater Manchester

African countries are signing bilateral health deals with the US: virologist identifies the ‘red flags’

Oyewale Tomori, Nigerian Academy of Science

Gloved hands take a drop of blood into a glass tube from another person's fingertip

HIV in Malawi: digital filing system saved lives and boosted care – research

Laura Derksen, University of Oslo; Anita McGahan, University of Toronto, and Leandro Pongeluppe, University of Pennsylvania

Man in white coat and face mask sitting at a computer and scanning a small book

Eczema and asthma in children: how household fuels are harming health in poor South African homes

Mandla Bhuda, University of South Africa; Janine Wichmann, University of Pretoria, and Joyce Shirinde, University of Pretoria

A group of children sitting cross-legged, with one fist on their chest

Obesity is on the rise in Africa: 5 essential reads on what to do

Wale Fatade, The Conversation

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Health research insights

A person with gloved hands holding a snake as it bites into a container

Snakebites: how to avoid them and what to do if you’re bitten

Melisa Benard-Valle, Technical University of Denmark

High cholesterol and insulin resistance are rising among young South Africans – what that means for public health

Themba Titus Sigudu, University of the Witwatersrand

Medical negligence in Nigeria: what’s known, and what needs to be done

Friday Okonofua, University of Benin

Two people wearing hospital scrubs, in an operating theatre

Telling people to use antibiotics responsibly isn’t enough. What will work instead

Marina Joubert, Stellenbosch University

Gloved hands and round glass dishes in a laboratory environment

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

Nicholas Aderinto, MD, University of Utah

More health research insights

Health challenges

When floods hit, the risk of malaria follows: how disaster systems can prepare better

Tiaan de Jager, University of Pretoria and Taneshka Kruger, University of Pretoria

South Africa needs to rethink how it measures intellectual and developmental disabilities – what’s lacking

Lieketseng Ned, Stellenbosch University and Marguerite Schneider, University of Cape Town

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

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

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

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

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

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Mind and body

Ghanaian celebrities are dealing with mental illness stigma behind closed doors – why speaking up matters

Lyzbeth King, Ohio University and Mary Kiura, Purdue University Fort Wayne

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.

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

Mariska Lilly, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

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

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

Marco Springmann, University of Oxford

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

Health + Medicine – Views & Research – The Conversation

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