In the last nine months, COVID-19 has proved to be unlike any other outbreak the world has seen in the past century. Its impact is beyond health and is expected to last years – if not more. We saw first-hand how ill-prepared we were to deal with the pandemic. Even countries like USA and […]
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Keeping equitable childhood cancer care on the global health agenda
September is the month for childhood cancer awareness, a time to shine the light on a disease which is often not part of the global health discourse. There are approximately 300,000 new cases of childhood cancers diagnosed each year globally. Despite relatively high cure rates for some cancers when detected early, survival rates remain […]
COVID-19 guidelines for reopening schools: policy considerations for children with special education needs
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significant consequences on all aspects of society and greatly impacts health and education systems worldwide. A recent article in the Lancet evaluates the measures necessary to prevent a second COVID-19 wave in the United Kingdom (UK) and explains that easing of physical distancing, including reopening of schools, […]
Building Back Better – a new hybrid approach to neglected tropical diseases in the COVID-19 era
COVID-19 established its foothold in Africa in April 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued interim guidance which encouraged neglected tropical disease (NTD) elimination programs to temporarily suspend community-based activities where COVID-19 transmission had begun. Governments responded and interventions, including population-based surveys, mass drug administration (MDA), and active case finding, were soon suspended. This […]
How COVID-19 Fractured Medical Aid Delivery
COVID-19 has fundamentally changed our understanding of many aspects of health care, and offers us a different lens through which to view medical humanitarianism. The pandemic has had a significant impact on medical aid; going beyond the obvious financial implications of an economic crisis and extending to personnel, supplies, and disease control. Foreign-aid budget […]
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 disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities in the UK: An urgent research priority
COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting people from ethnic minorities in the UK and other high‑income countries, exposing longstanding inequalities for minority and marginalised communities. These disparities have been particularly evident in the UK, where Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities are bearing the brunt of the pandemic. An official inquiry commissioned by the UK […]
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 […]
Historic Economic Downfalls and Cancer Care: The forecast post-COVID
The coronavirus pandemic, a global fight we have not seen since the previous century, undoubtedly has resulted in disastrous effects on the UK and global economy. On 12th August, the UK economy declared an official recession for the first time in 11 years as the economy shrank by 20.4%, the biggest reduction ever seen. […]