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Botswana declares health emergency as vital medical stocks dry up
A public health emergency has been declared in Botswana, where hospitals and clinics are running out of medicine and other vital supplies and surgeries...
Zimbabwe moves on universal healthcare coverage
A new Bill before Zimbabwe’s Parliament aims to provide healthcare for everyone in the country, forcing even private hospitals to fall in line, but...
Nigeria cuts import reliance to produce test kits for HIV, TB, malaria
In a major initiative to fill a gap left by US aid cuts, Codix Bio, Nigeria’s WHO-licensed diagnostics factory, is to produce 147m rapid...
How Botswana eliminated paediatric HIV
Political will, free maternity care and digital health tools have helped Botswana achieve high standards for ending mother-to-child transmission, the first African nation to...
Scientists call for stronger action in DRC mpox crisis
Mpox is spreading faster, showing new modes of transmission and affecting different populations, with scientists warning that the disease needs to be brought under...
Skin lightener cancer risk flagged in African study
Thousands of women risk developing cancer from skin-lightening products – freely available on the informal market, despite being regulated – according to a study...
Mpox testing project launched in Africa as cases rise
With mpox infections continuing to rise on the continent, the Africa CDC and the European Commission have launched the Partnership to Accelerate Mpox Testing and...
Rwanda rethinks malaria jabs amid surge in cases
Rwanda is confronting an unexpected resurgence in malaria infections and signs of treatment resistance that have forced alarmed officials to revisit vaccine intervention the...
Nigerian nurses end week-long strike after government agrees to deal
Nurses in Nigeria’s public hospitals suspended a seven-day “warning strike” on Saturday after reaching an agreement with the government over the implementation of their...
First malaria treatment for babies a major step – SA biochemist
Last month, the first malaria treatment for babies and children of two months up to five years was approved for use by the Swiss...
Study flags high colistin-resistant Klebsiella rates in Africa
Researchers have expressed alarm over Africa’s high levels of resistance to a last-resort antibiotic in an already multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogen, according to their...
Mpox cases rise in South Africa, Mozambique
Laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox are gradually rising in the country, South African health authorities have warned, after two recent cases were confirmed in Gauteng...
First malaria drug for newborns and babies approved
Novartis has received approval in Switzerland for Coartem Baby, the first drug to treat malaria in babies and very young children, with eight African countries...
Zimbabwe's $400m medical equipment bid fans outrage
Questions are being raised in Zimbabwe after reports that the government is allegedly supporting a bid by a controversial businessman to supply medical drugs...
USAID cancels 100 000 emergency rape survivor kits for DRC
The Trump administration cancelled a major contract to supply 100 000 emergency kits for rape survivors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as...
WHO extends mpox emergency after African surge
After a World Health Organisation (WHO) emergency committee meeting last week on the mpox upsurge in Africa, the group’s director-general has accepted the recommendation...
Common drug may reduce preterm births – Zimbabwe randomised trial
A study of almost 1 000 pregnant women in Zimbabwe found that a daily dose of a commonly used, safe and inexpensive antibiotic may...
Ethiopia reports first mpox cases
Mpox is continuing to spread across the continent, with the first three cases being reported in Ethiopia last week and the Africa Centres for...
SAHPRA gives green light for emergency use mpox test
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has listed the first mpox in vitro diagnostic test kit – using the WHO PQ assessment...
Malawi launches first pill for sleeping sickness
Patients in Malawi will now be able to swallow a pill instead of enduring toxic IV drugs to survive a fast-moving and deadly disease,...
New boss for WHO Africa region
The WHO has announced Tanzania’s Dr Moahamed Yakub Janabi as the new African Region nominee for regional director – after a special meeting of...
Pre-eclampsia risk flagged among African women
The complication of pre-eclampsia is a danger to pregnant women, which, characterised by high blood pressure and organ damage – and arising during the second...
Africa CDC to review mpox emergency status
Renowned epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim will lead a panel of experts to review the status and classification of mpox on the continent, and...
Measles adds to Ugandan mpox crisis as death toll passes 5 400
The cumulative number of confirmed mpox cases in Uganda has hit 5 431, with 40 deaths reported since the outbreak was declared nine months...
SADC harmonised medicines regulatory initiative a lesson for Africa
The ZaZiBoNa initiative to harmonise the regional registration of requirements for pharmaceutical products has saved time and costs for manufacturers and applicants in the SADC...
Minister scathing of African leaders seeking treatment abroad
Not for the first time, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has blasted heads of state who fly to other countries when they need medical...
Death toll rises in Nigeria meningitis outbreak
Nigeria is struggling with a rapidly spreading meningitis outbreak that has so far killed 151 people – children affected the most – with efforts...
Critically-ill patients in African hospitals don’t get the care they need – study
When someone falls critically ill, hospitals are expected to provide life-saving care – but in many African countries, ICUs are rare. Critically-ill patients are...
Nigeria Lassa fever death toll now 100
Nigeria has recorded 29 new Lassa fever infections and five deaths in one week, bringing the total fatalities recorded in 2025 to 100, according...
New African Epidemic Fund will boost efficiency, responses – CDC
The African Epidemic Fund is now operational on the continent, providing the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) with flexible funding to...
Vital leprosy drugs arrive in Nigeria after year-long delay
After waiting for more than a year, Nigerians with leprosy will finally be able to obtain critical drugs to treat the disease, which were...
WHO probes causes of DRC mystery illness
An ongoing investigation into an unexplained illness cluster in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) province of Equateur suggests chemical poisoning or rapid-onset bacterial...
Mystery illness in DRC kills more than 50 people
An unknown illness has killed more than 50 people in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, including a group of children who...
Boy (4) dies of Ebola in Uganda as US slashes help
The Trump administration has cancelled at least four of the five contracts with organisations that helped manage the Ebola outbreak in Uganda – which...
Africa’s medical system risks ‘collapse’, warns health leader
Health services in Africa are at risk of “collapse in the next few years” due to soaring chronic diseases, a senior public health leader has warned.
Foreign...
Ugandan intern doctors angry over plan to end sponsorships
A planned policy by the Ugandan Ministry of Health to stop sponsoring recently graduated intern doctors has sparked widespread unrest among medical students, supported...
Long-term strategy vital to combat cholera threat in Africa
Southern and eastern African countries are facing a resurgence of cholera, threatening worldwide progress toward eliminating the disease, a recent analysis has said.
The study,...
Ebola outbreak in Uganda under control
The recent outbreak of Ebola in Uganda has been deemed “contained”, according to the Minister of Health, after the announcement that eight patients who...
Continent’s sperm donor industry ‘lacks vital safeguards’
Poor regulation and lack of transparency in Africa’s fertility industry leave sperm donors and recipients vulnerable to exploitation and unethical practices, including relatives unwittingly...
Landmark deal jumpstarts Africa’s vaccine production
In a deal inked in Cairo last week and backed by a $1.2bn investment from Gavi, the vaccine alliance, an end-to-end mRNA vaccine production platform...