Opinion Pieces

South Africa is a water-scarce country. Changing rainfall patterns and the escalating electricity crisis are making the situation worse. Treating and distributing water requires electricity. Some of the country’s biggest cities have had to impose water restrictions and residents in other parts have gone months without a regular water supply. Unfortunately, health facilities have not …

Water cuts in South Africa are hurting hospitals and clinics – there’s an increased risk of infections Read More »

The development of an effective vaccine for malaria has proved to be far more challenging than developing a vaccine to protect people from COVID-19. Several different COVID-19 vaccines were developed and approved for use within a year of the disease’s emergence. In contrast, it took over 30 years of intensive research and numerous clinical trials …

Vaccines could be a game-changer in the fight against malaria in Africa Read More »

West Africa experienced the worst Ebola outbreak between 2013 and 2016.Ahmed Jallanzo/EPA Jacqueline Weyer, National Institute for Communicable Diseases It’s been eight months since the start of the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). By the beginning of April, almost 700 people have succumbed to the disease, making this the second …

The DRC’s Ebola outbreak has all the makings of a humanitarian crisis Read More »

What parts of the body does TB affect? TB most commonly affects the lungs – what’s known as the body’s pulmonary system. But it affects other organs too, what’s known as extrapulmonary TB. Other organs that can be affected include the lining covering the lungs (pleural TB); the central nervous system (TB meningitis); bone and …

TB doesn’t only attack the lungs — other organs are also vulnerable Read More »