Neglected tropical diseases and their related disabilities in rural Sub-Saharan Africa Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a category of twenty tropical infections that affect more than 1 billion people worldwide who reside in poor and low-resource communities. According to the World Health Organisation estimates, Africa accounts for 40% of the worldwide NTDs burden, disproportionately […]
Category: Africa
How COVID-19 exposed crevices in Uganda’s health workforce
At the outset of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in December 2019, the magnitude and impact of the current global pandemic was inconceivable. As it ravaged one country to another, trepidation grew in Uganda. Locally, we wondered whether we could mount and coordinate an effective response: how would we cope with inextricably high patient loads, access […]
Global health diplomacy failures in the COVID-19 era: surviving denialism and corruption in sub-Saharan Africa
Africa is currently bordering close to four million Coronavirus cases, with over 100 000 deaths, the rate of recovery is close to 90%. Northern and Southern Africa remain the hardest hit with the COVID-19 pandemic, 1.5 million cases are recorded in South Africa. There have been a range of health responses, from strong responses […]
Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the private health sector in Africa
The for-profit private sector is an important provider of health services in most countries, and the sub-Saharan African region is no exception. A recent study puts the percentage of health services sourced from private providers in the World Health Organization’s AFRO region at some 40%. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the private health sector in […]
The democratisation of health care: will Kenya be left behind?
“Young man, I would be dead without this device.” Mr. Ngatia[1] said as he shook my hand vigorously. Mr. Ngatia was in his early 50s and had spent much of his life in Korogocho slum in Nairobi. I met him about seven years ago when I was leading a community-based health research project on […]
Africa Amid Growing Vaccine Nationalism
Among potential vaccines on clinical trials for the SARS-CoV-2 virus globally, the Ox1CoV-19 VIDA-Trials in Johannesburg is the sole candidate in Africa – a collaboration between Oxford University and University of Witswatersrand. This is worrisome despite capacities to conduct clinical trials in other countries including Senegal, Egypt and Algeria. Determined to increase this number, […]
Towards improved Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems during public health emergencies: Reflections from Africa CRVS week
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in the health systems of the Africa Region, including in the civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. This year’s Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Week explored these with a series of webinars on the theme, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics as an Essential Service for Monitoring […]
The vulnerable are here too: Insights from Nigeria
While interviewing patients, family members and healthcare professionals for my research in Nigeria, I interviewed a 70-year-old woman who has been wheelchair-bound for almost 13 years after having a stroke. Her older son lives outside of Nigeria and she currently lives in her own house with her youngest son and daughter-in-law. The vulnerable woman […]
COVID-19 in Kenya: 150 days of learning
How does one fight an invisible, insidious, and all but intractable foe worth 30 kb in size? In Kenya, the hundred and fiftieth day of COVID-19 passed on 9th August 2020, nine months after the virus manifested itself in the Chinese province of Wuhan. The pandemic has brought forth some key learnings in the […]
Hospital-based care for newborns in Malawi: Staying the course for improved outcomes amid COVID-19
As a paediatrician and head of the Department of Paediatrics at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe, Malawi, my focus is improving care for newborns and children in our hospital and supporting the referring districts. My colleagues and I remain committed to caring for small and sick newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic despite the additional […]