HEALTH - The African Mirror

Nov

16

2025

Bridging continents, changing futures: how a new alliance wants to rewrite Africa’s oncology story

AUDA-NEPAD, HEALTH

THE air in Mombasa, Kenya, was thick with the promise of change. It was November 2025, and the 7th Scientific Conference on Medical Product Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA) was in full swing. But this was more than just a conference; it was a continental convocation, a pivotal moment in Africa’s journey toward health sovereignty. The theme, “Regulatory Harmonisation: Unlocking Africa’s Potential in Health Product Manufacturing and Trade,” was a direct response to a stark, long-standing vulnerability: over 90% of the continent’s medicines are imported. The COVID-19 pandemic had brutally exposed the fragility of this dependence, turning external supply chains into…

May

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine hesitancy slows Africa’s COVID-19 inoculation drive

COVID-19

MAGGIE FICK WHEN Edith Serem received her COVID-19 vaccination last month at a hospital in Nairobi where she works as a doctor, nurses jokingly warned she might start speaking in a foreign language. Serem said some colleagues got the AstraZeneca shot after watching her closely for several days to see if she was okay, but others refused, still wary of possible side effects. Health experts worry that public scepticism about taking the relatively small number of doses African countries have battled to procure could prolong a pandemic that has already killed more than 3.3 million people worldwide. "I'm not an…

May

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Women lost $800 billion in income

COVID-19

SOPHIA SUN THE COVID-19 crisis cost women around the world $800 billion in lost income in 2020, Oxfam said, as it demanded steps to tackle gender inequality. Women, overrepresented in low-paid, precarious sectors like retail, tourism and food services, lost more than 64 million jobs last year, said the charity, a 5% total loss, compared to a 3.9% loss for men. The pandemic has "dealt a striking blow" to recent gains for women in the workforce, said Oxfam Executive Director Gabriela Bucher, in a written statement. The $800 billion figure, based on International Labor Organisation data, likely underestimates the total…

May

05

2021

By The African Mirror

SA to spend an extra R4-billion on vaccines

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa has allocated an extra R4-billion rand to buy COVID-19 vaccines and extend a special distress grant to thousands of people hit by the pandemic, in a Special Appropriation Bill tabled by the finance minister on Tuesday. The bill, expected to be debated with the National Treasury in a parliamentary committee meeting later on Tuesday, allocates an additional 1.25 billion rand to the department of health to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and another 2.82 billion rands to social development for the distress grant of 350 rands per person. South Africa - the worst-hit country on the continent in terms of…

May

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Foreign players seek way out of India after IPL suspension

COVID-19

AMLAN CHAKRABORTY THE abrupt suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday had several top international cricketers scrambling to return home but it is unlikely to be a smooth passage out of India for many of them. The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has promised "secure and safe passage" for all participants but existing travel restrictions make it a complicated process for many, especially the 40-odd Australian contingent, including 14 players, in India. Australia has banned travellers from India, including its own citizens, from entering the country until May 15, on pain of jail and fines. Cricket Australia (CA) could…

Jun

17

2021

By The African Mirror

J&J to send two million doses to S.A

COVID-19

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that Johnson & Johnson would send 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the country by the end of the month, making up for the amount lost due to contamination at a U.S. ingredient supplier. Aspen Pharmacare, J&J's local producer, had to destroy 2 million doses of the vaccine after the contamination at a plant in Baltimore, Maryland, was discovered, the latest blow to South Africa's struggling vaccination campaign. "We have received an indication from Johnson & Johnson that it expects to deliver around 2 million vaccines to South Africa by the end of…

Jun

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Equatorial Guinea buys 500 000 vaccines

COVID-19

EQUATORIAL Guinea has purchased 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's Sinopharm, according to its health ministry. "At the Beijing airport, the 500,000 doses... to continue the vaccination campaign are ready to be shipped," the health ministry said on Twitter, adding a video of crates labelled "Sinopharm" being loaded from a semi-truck. The tweet did not specify the price Equatorial Guinea had agreed to pay for the shots. The ministry could not be reached for further comments. China sent 100,000 doses of Sinopharm's vaccine to Equatorial Guinea in February, as part of a series of donations to African countries struggling to…

Jun

17

2021

By The African Mirror

SA’s new tough anti-COVID measures

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH Africa has introduced a temporary ban on weekend alcohol off sales, consumption of booze at parks, beaches and extended curfew hours in a bid to deal with the COVID-19 third wave that has resulted in a spike in infections and hospital admissions. The measures are part of the movement of the country to Lockdown Alert Level Three that were unveiled by SA president Cyril Ramaphosa in an address to the nation, following a meeting with the COVID-19 Command Council. Ramaphosa also revealed Gauteng, Free State, North West and Northern Cape provinces are officially in the 3rd…

May

04

2021

By The African Mirror

Tanzania, once sceptical of COVID-19, announces measures to curb new variants

COVID-19

TANZANIA yesterday announced new anti-coronavirus measures, saying it wanted to prevent the importation of new variants, highlighting new President Samia Suluhu Hassan's more active efforts to contain the pandemic. Among the new measures, travellers, both foreigners and Tanzanians, will be required to present negative COVID-19 tests at border points. Her approach to tackling COVID-19 contrasts sharply with her late predecessor John Magufuli who dismissed fears of the infection and promoted remedies such as steam inhalation and herbal concoctions as a cure. "Based on the global epidemiological situation and emergence of new variants of viruses that cause COVID-19, there's an increased…

May

04

2021

By The African Mirror

Cricket-IPL indefinitely suspended due to COVID-19 crisis in India

COVID-19

AMLAN CHAKRABORTY THE Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament has been indefinitely suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis in the country, the IPL said on Tuesday. The organising Indian cricket board (BCCI) and the IPL governing council took the decision at an emergency meeting. "These are difficult times, especially in India, and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times," the IPL said in a statement. "The BCCI will do everything in its…