Africa’s need for a dedicated Covid-19 vaccine supply

Africa’s need for a dedicated Covid-19 vaccine supply

As with so many other facets of global wealth (and health) inequality, the rollout of the four Covid-19 vaccines produced by Western pharmaceutical companies and approved by American and European health officials – the “Big Four” of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson – has quickly became yet another…

Coronavirus throws Africa’s water crisis into sharp relief

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept rapidly from its origin in the Chinese city of Wuhan to every continent save Antarctica. Not all regions have been affected equally, however. Asian countries like Japan and Singapore initially seemed hard-hit but managed to get a grip on the disease through extensive testing, tracking…

How South Africa struggles against Big Tobacco

South Africa, although hailed as one of the most prosperous economies on the African continent, remains a country of missed opportunities. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) once again made this clear in its consultations with the Treasury, urging the government to implement reforms to tackle weak growth as well as…

WHO’s 2020 priorities resonate on African continent

With the new year, the World Health Organization has released a list of its top priorities for 2020. They include a number of concerns with special resonance on the African continent, including the need to understand that the climate crisis is a health crisis, and the need to address the…

Big Tobacco’s anti-smoking stance deserves nothing but contempt

As South African lawmakers press ahead with a range of tobacco control measures, some of the most vehement opposition has come from the tobacco industry itself. While the source of opposition is hardly surprising, the key message is: the manufacturers claim the new plans will stop people from quitting smoking….

Arnaud Gallet

Arnaud is a French freelance writer with an African heart who has lived in 10 different Sub-Saharan countries in the past decade. He is currently based in Paris.

Kenyan doctors in new tussle with government days after ending strike

NAIROBI — The tussle between Kenyan medical practitioners and the government seems to be far from over, days after the Kenya medical practitioners, pharmacists and dentists union (KMPDU) called off a nationwide strike that had lasted for 100 days. Even after an agreement had been reached between the national government,…

Jackson Okata

Jackson Okata is a Kenyan based freelance journalist

New African Union CDC health operations center is open for business

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention was officially open for business on Wednesday, following a ribbon cutting ceremony at the conclusion of this week’s African Union summit. The ceremony celebrated a state-of-the-art Emergency Operating Center in Addis Ababa designed to support early warning and response systems, deliver technical expertise…