insert_link Africa Nearly 136 million people in Africa live with hearing difficulties: tackling the crisis with a smartphone and an app By De Wet Swanepoel, University of Pretoria In rural Kenya, 64-year-old John Kamau’s world of silence is about to change. For decades, isolated by hearing loss from the community’s vibrant life and his grandchildren’s conversations, he sees hope when a community health worker visits with a smartphone in hand. This isn’t just any visit; it’s the gateway to Kamau’s reconnection with the world, facilitated by breakthrough digital […] today18 April, 2024
insert_link Health / Medical New TB skin test could offer cheaper and easier way to detect the disease By Yvette Naudé, University of Pretoria Detecting tuberculosis early could play a significant role in eradicating the world’s most deadly infectious disease. The World Health Organization says 1.5 million people die from this devastating disease each year. People infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the TB bacteria that attack the lungs, often do not know that they have it until their symptoms become severe. Two out of every […] today28 March, 2024
insert_link Africa The Toxic Air We Breathe: Greenpeace Maps Africa’s Air Pollution Hotspots Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa have emerged as Africa’s most polluted countries in terms of air pollution disease burden, with profound health consequences for Africa’s people and exacerbated impacts on climate change, a report prepared by Greenpeace Africa and Greenpeace MENA can now reveal. Titled "Major Air Polluters in Africa Unmasked," the report investigates the biggest human sources of air pollution across Africa, focusing on major industrial and economic […] today28 March, 2024
insert_link Africa What’s behind the worldwide shortage of cholera vaccines? For starters, they’re only made by one company By Edina Amponsah-Dacosta, University of Cape Town In February 2024 the World Health Organization announced southern Africa was suffering the deadliest regional outbreak of cholera in at least a decade. At the epicentre of the disaster were Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, where cholera cases surged more than four-fold between 2022 and 2023. Over 1,600 deaths were reported in the three countries. Already 2024 is threatening to be […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa Cholera vaccine push underway in southern Africa The World Health Organization has warned that cholera cases are increasing globally, and there’s been an unprecedented spike in Africa. Dr. Fiona Braka from WHO’s regional office in Brazzaville, Congo, said that eastern and southern Africa have been badly affected. In just the first four weeks of the year, 10 African countries reported more than 26,000 cases and 700 deaths. today7 February, 2024
insert_link World Cancer cases to rise by 77% by 2050, according to WHO Global cancer cases are predicted to rise by more than 75% by 2050, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization. The W-H-O's International Agency for Research on Cancer says tobacco, alcohol, obesity and air pollution are behind the predicted rise. Sally Patterson has more. today2 February, 2024
insert_link Health / Medical Measles is on the rise around the world – we can’t let vaccination rates falter fotohay/Shutterstock Jaya Dantas, Curtin University In recent weeks a series of measles alerts have been issued around Australia, including in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, after the identification of a small number of cases in travellers returning from overseas. Meanwhile, places such as the United States and the United Kingdom have been contending with larger measles outbreaks. In fact, the World Health Organization reported a 45-fold increase in measles […] today31 January, 2024
insert_link World Yemeni children face severe malnutrition crisis, warns WHO The World Health Organization representative Dr. Arturo Pesigan warned Tuesday that roughly half of all Yemeni children under the age of five are malnourished — a total of 2.4 million, while 17.8 million people in the country require health support. today24 January, 2024
insert_link Health / Medical Tobacco use declines despite tobacco industry efforts to jeopardize progress Globally there are 1.25 billion adult tobacco users, according to the latest estimates in the World Health Organization (WHO) tobacco trends report out today. Trends in 2022 show a continued decline in tobacco use rates globally. With about 1 in 5 adults worldwide consuming tobacco compared to 1 in 3 in 2000. The report shows that 150 countries are successfully reducing tobacco use. Brazil and the Netherlands are seeing success after they […] today18 January, 2024
