HEALTH - The African Mirror

May

26

2026

Ebola outbreak in the DRC: four reasons it will be hard to contain

HEALTH

BY the second week of the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it was already clear that containing the spread of the haemorrhagic disease was proving to be difficult. On 17 May 2026, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. This is its highest level of global health alert. It is mostly reserved for an extraordinary disease outbreak or event that is a public health risk to many countries through international spread and hence requires global coordinated efforts. According to the WHO, as of 19 May 2026, the DRC had…

May

20

2026

By WOLFGANG PREISER; CARLA MAVIAN; CHERYL BAXTER; RICHARD LESSELLS, and TULIO DE OLIVEIRA

Hantavirus in Africa: why climate change, rats and weak surveillance are worrying scientists

HEALTH

HANTAVIRUSES are not new. They have circulated for decades in rodent populations, particularly in rats and mice. Humans can become infected if they are bitten or scratched by a rodent or by inhaling aerosolised particles. These are tiny bits of rodent urine, faeces or saliva floating through the air that are contaminated by the virus. There are many different hantaviruses, but only one can spread from person to person: the Andes hantavirus from South America. This is the strain that recently killed several cruise ship passengers. Infections between humans can be prevented by closely observing people who were exposed and…

May

19

2026

By KEVIN J.A. THOMAS

Ebola survivors struggle to return to normal lives: what I found out in Sierra Leone and Liberia

HEALTH

DURING the Ebola epidemic of 2014 to 2016, Musu, a resident of Monrovia, Liberia, contracted the Ebola virus along with her husband, five sons, and daughter. A few weeks later, six members of her family died. Musu and her youngest son survived. Since then, their lives have not been the same. Her husband was the family’s sole breadwinner. Now a widow and a single parent, Musu struggles to make ends meet. As she put it, “There is no one here to help besides God. No boyfriend. No father. I am the father, the mother, the uncle, and the brother. At…

May

18

2026

By DAVID COMAS and LAURA VILÀ VALLS

In Sudan, a migrant community reveals a resistance to malaria: the genetic study helping shape medicine

HEALTH

SUDAN lies at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East. It has played a key role in human demographic movements, reflected in the diversity of its cultures and languages. Although much of the country is arid, the Nile River has long acted as a corridor for trade, facilitating human migration through the region for thousands of years. This makes Sudan a valuable place to study human genetic diversity and evolutionary history, which has important implications for understanding population-specific adaptation and health. The Copts are a population that migrated from Egypt in the 7th century and mixed with populations in…

May

16

2026

By The African Mirror

Better‑designed homes could cut three major child diseases by up to 44% – Tanzania trial

HEALTH

MALARIA, diarrhoea, and pneumonia are preventable childhood diseases that are major causes of death in young children. They’re transmitted largely in and around the home, where children spend most of their time. For example, around 80% of malaria transmission in Africa occurs when people are bitten by malarial mosquitoes indoors at night. Diarrhoea results usually from food and water that’s been contaminated by faeces. It can also be spread through poor hygiene. Pneumonia is spread through overcrowding and poor ventilation, and is exacerbated by indoor air pollution. We are an international group of specialists from different fields, including architecture, communications,…

May

12

2026

By PULENG SEGALO and JACOB OWUSU SARFO

Is all my struggle going to be wasted?’ Ghana study explores how mothers feel about early births

HEALTH

ABOUT 10% of births – that’s about 15 million babies – are born prematurely worldwide each year, making preterm births a major global health concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines preterm birth as delivery before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Estimates suggest that the preterm figure is much higher in low-income countries. Preterm births are a danger to the infant’s survival and long-term health. And according to the WHO, the level of socioeconomic development in the country where a preterm baby is born often plays a crucial role in their survival. In high-income countries, over 90% of extremely preterm…

May

06

2026

By BAMBA GAYE

The bias in medical research: Africa carries a huge disease burden but is missing from clinical trials

HEALTH

MODERN medicine prides itself on being a universal science, built on evidence from clinical trials. But there’s a bias in medical research. While Africa accounts for roughly 25% of the global disease burden and 19% of the global population, the continent’s people are largely invisible in some clinical trials. The scale of the erasure is revealed in a landmark study of 2,472 randomised controlled trials globally published between 2019 and 2024. I led this team of researchers, who scrutinised the world’s most influential medical publications to quantify African representation. They included the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, the…

Apr

25

2026

By WALE FATADE

Ending malaria in Africa: 5 essential reads on gains and challenges

HEALTH

MALARIA, a life-threatening disease spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes, is preventable and curable. The World Malaria Report 2025 shows that in 2024, there were an estimated 282 million malaria cases and 610,000 malaria deaths in 80 countries. Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2024, Africa accounted for 95% of malaria cases (265 million) and 95% (579,000) of malaria deaths. Children under five accounted for about 75% of all malaria deaths in the region. Over half of all deaths in Africa occurred in three countries: Nigeria (31.9%), the Democratic Republic of Congo…

Apr

11

2026

By SEGUN FATUMO

Kidney disease is growing in Africa: big new study casts light on genetic risk factors

HEALTH

EVERY minute your kidneys are hard at work, filtering around 200 litres of blood, removing waste, balancing salts and fluids, and regulating blood pressure. This happens without any conscious effort on your part. But when your kidneys begin to fail, the consequences are devastating, including fatigue, fluid buildup and heart complications. Some people eventually need dialysis or a transplant to stay alive. Kidney disease is one of the fastest-growing causes of death across the world. Around 850 million people are living with some form of it, more than the combined number of people affected by diabetes and cancer. Chronic kidney…

Apr

08

2026

By EFEFIOM KOFON

Nigeria imports 70% of its medicines – why local manufacturing doesn’t meet demand

HEALTH

NIGERIA imports at least 70% of its medicines. This is striking for a country of over 230 million people and at least 120 active pharmaceutical manufacturers. Domestic manufacturing is largely concentrated in lower-end medicines that require relatively simple production processes. The more complex and higher-value pharmaceutical products continue to be imported. This pattern has persisted for decades. It reflects two things. First is the limited impact of policies aimed at reducing import dependence. The other is the entrenched interests across pharmaceutical companies. An incentive structure that favours imports over local production. I recently completed my doctorate studies focusing on the…