public health - The African Mirror

Oct

2023

Jerry Coovadia remembered – a champion of science, children and compassionate public health

DEEPLY saddened as we in the South African health community were by the loss of Professor Jerry Hoosen Coovadia on 4 October 2023, I reflected on what he had come to mean in my medical career and in my life. “Prof Jerry”, as we called him, was an internationally renowned South African paediatrician, public health and justice activist and clinician scientist. He made a lasting impact on child health and the response to HIV in South Africa and the region. He died, aged 83, at his home in KwaZulu-Natal, leaving his wife, Dr Zubeida “Zubie” Hamed. LINDA-GAIL BEKKER, Professor of…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

How young Nigerians’ distrust of political leaders fuels COVID misinformation

COVID-19

EVER since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global public health emergency in January 2020, there’s been a need for studies that help explain what people understand by public health messages. Author OLUTOBI AKINGBADE, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy (CANRAD), Nelson Mandela University Research into the nuances of communication is especially important when conspiracy theories and misleading rumours about the pandemic are in circulation. Misinformation can be dangerous. Early in the pandemic, it appeared that younger people (in their teens, 20s and 30s) had a low risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 or severe…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Malnutrition among children is rife in Nigeria. What must be done

HEALTH

MALNUTRITION is one of the world’s major public health and development concerns. In Nigeria, the situation is dire. Currently, UNICEF says 5 in 10 children under five years old suffer from the effects of being malnourished. This has an overarching impact on the lives, future and productivity of Nigerian children. Ogechi Ekeanyanwu, from The Conversation Africa, asked Blessing Akombi-Inyang, a maternal and child health expert, to explain the reasons for this high rate of malnutrition. BLESSING AKOMBI-INYANG PHD, MPH, Lecturer in Global Health, UNSW Why is malnutrition so endemic in Nigeria? The main reason is malnutrition’s close association with poverty.…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

How women in academia are feeling the brunt of COVID-19

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

KEYMANTHRI MOODLEY, Director, The Centre for Medical Ethics & Law, Stellenbosch University AMANDA GOUWS, Professor of Political Science and SARChi Chair in Gender Politics, Stellenbosch University THE COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent public health response of lockdown has brought into sharp relief the constraints faced by women across the board. We have been keeping a keen eye on the impact it’s having on women in academia – our field of work and research. What we’re observing, and what’s being backed up by research, is that women are facing additional constraints as a result of COVID-19. These range from the added…