Category: Health
Frontline heroes battle disease in Rwanda
Rwanda’s female community health workers have been beating back malaria—can they do the same for Covid-19? By Maggie Andresen It’s a quiet morning just after sunrise in southern Rwanda, when a knock brings Uwinogoye Lucie to her door. Her neighbor Mukundente Magnifique stands on the doorstep, young son in tow. Two-year-old Serge is feverish and […]
Rwanda opts for pool testing in response to COVID-19
People line up for the bus in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo credit: Plaisir Muzogeye Kigali’s markets are the heart of Rwanda’s capital; shoppers throng between stalls, and tables are piled high with everything from carrots to jewelry. People from all over the city and country mill through these markets, and officials fear that they are where […]
Initiative offers help for community health as Egypt battles coronavirus
Essayed Lotfy, a frail-looking 46-year-old baker from Cairo, faces difficult choices if he’s to continue making a living in his city which has been besieged by the new coronavirus for the past few weeks. “I’m worried if I stay home, we’ll run out of money and food. But when I go out, I’m always terrified […]
Dans le cadre du Coronavirus, les pays africains devront trouver des moyens innovants et inédits pour répondre à cette crise
Les effets économiques du Coronavirus sur l’Afrique avec Mouhamadou M. LY, Économiste senior au Policy Center for the New South Next Einstein Forum : Quels seront les effets directs de la pandémie sur l’économie africaine ? Mouhamadou M. Ly : La pandémie, et avec elle les mesures sanitaires de prévention, comme la réduction des déplacements, ont eu pour effet […]
Covid-19 poses a tricky challenge for Africa’s elderly
Old people are especially vulnerable to Covid-19, the respiratory illness currently crippling the world. But Africa’s elderly, even if they are a small proportion of the population, are more vulnerable than their developed world counterparts. And they urgently require locally-relevant strategies to protect themselves, says Erastus Maina, global charity HelpAge International’s Kenya programme coordinator. “Elderly […]
Face au Coronavirus, l’Afrique doit capitaliser sur les acquis des récentes épidémies, notamment Ebola
5 minutes sur le Coronavirus avec le Docteur Alpha Kabinet Keita, Directeur adjoint du Centre de recherche et de formation en infectiologie de Guinée (CERFIG) et Associé au Next Einstein Forum Next Einstein Forum : En quoi consiste le COVID -19 et de quelle manière se différencie-t-il par rapport à la famille des autres coronavirus par […]
Q&A: How prepared are African cities for pandemics?
African cities may seem chaotic compared to metropoles in other parts of the world. But they have an inner resilience that can serve them when disaster hits. As the death toll from the new coronavirus that causes the deadly respiratory illness COVID-19 continues to rise, Scientific African Magazine spoke to Zaheer Allam, a Mauritius-based expert […]
Cost and red tape stifle Africa’s HIV drug producers
Locally manufactured antiretroviral drugs could make devastating stock-outs a thing of the past. But pilot production projects are struggling to scale up, reports Christabel Ligami. Agnes Mumbi knows all about the devastating effects that antiretroviral (ARV) stock-outs can wreak on families. The 32-year-old Kenyan mother of two has been taking the drugs since testing positive […]
How a deadly outbreak unveiled the key to safer food
A deadly Listeria outbreak in South Africa highlighted the power that consumers wield in improving food safety. Now scientists hope to harness that power in other parts of Africa. In mid-June 2017 at a medical lab in Pretoria, South Africa, five patient samples tested positive for the deadly foodborne bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. That was unusual: […]
Barriers from bush to bedside
Over 5,000 plants are used for medicinal purposes in Africa, but efforts to test their potency and commercialise them keep hitting snags. Scientists hope better research standards will improve outcomes, Sandrine Ceurstemont reports. A bitter-tasting plant with silvery leaves is used in many southern African countries to treat a variety of medical conditions, from cancer […]