Feature Stories

Abidjan – When Cote d’Ivoire set to drive up COVID-19 uptake, a three-week mass vaccination campaign in February saw over 2 million people vaccinated, yielding an 8% rise in the number of people fully vaccinated. In a country with less than 20% vaccine coverage, the increase realized in a matter of weeks marks a significant progress.

Nairobi – Although cancer care has improved significantly in many African countries over the past decade, challenges in prevention, detection and treatment services as well as financial hurdles are limiting access to quality and adequate care to millions of patients. Dr Miriam Mutebi, President Elect, African Organization for Research and training in Cancer describes the state of cancer care in Africa and how it can be improved.

Lilongwe – Polio emergency response teams in Malawi are ramping up disease surveillance and deepening investigations after the country detected a case of wild poliovirus—the first of its kind in Africa since 2016. Determining the extent of the risk and searching for any further cases are among the crucial steps for an effective response to halt the virus and protect children from its debilitating impact.

Kinshasa – It can be hard to tease apart fact from falsehood amid the distorted, oft-repeated COVID-19 stories. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a network of myth busters is on constant watch, tracking and addressing misinformation thanks to government efforts with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partner organizations.

Until recently, Cindy Frederic was among the less than 100 000 Mauritian adults still unvaccinated against COVID-19. Living with a COVID-19 comorbidity, she was anxious about how the vaccine might affect her health.

When Kenya’s Ministry of Health set its sights on reaching 10 million people with the COVID-19 vaccination by the end of 2021, many people like Lilian Anyango were not afraid of the myths circulating about the harm it could cause.

Asma* recalls the long journeys between her parents’ home in Mbour, a coastal city in western Senegal, and the Aristide Le Dantec Hospital in the capital Dakar, where she was being treated for leukaemia. It was a journey she came to know by heart. Diagnosed at age 16, she spent three long years in intensive treatment, followed by another five years of monitoring for any potentially life-threatening relapse.

Neglected tropical diseases affect millions of people across Africa, yet the efforts to eliminate them and alleviate the suffering they cause receive little national attention. Professor Nicholas Midzi, an expert in preventive chemotherapy of neglected tropical diseases and the Director of Zimbabwe’s National Institute of Health Research, analyses factors contributing to low priority to these diseases and how to reverse the trend.

Preventive treatment of neglected tropical diseases (NTD) has saved many lives across Africa. However, obstacles persist as these diseases often affect impoverished communities in rural areas, conflict zones and hard-to-reach regions. These diseases are also almost absent from the global health agenda. Dr Paul Emerson, Director of the Atlanta-based International Trachoma Initiative, discusses ways to improve treatment and apply lessons for effective prevention and control.

Though separated by 100 km, Aitta Kébé and Maimouna Tamba are fighting for the same cause. They are both Bajenu Gox, striving to ensure that Senegalese women and girls enjoy a life free from gender-based violence.