Africa Science Focus

Africa is battling a suicide and mental health crisis. According to the World Health Organization , the region has the highest number of suicide cases in the world with around 11 people per 100, 000 dying by suicide each year. The region is also home to six of the ten countries with the highest incidence of suicide.  In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we hear from Kenyan resident Philis Mwat...

The lands of indigenous peoples contain much of the world’s surviving tropical forests – which are key to limiting the devastating impacts of climate change. Yet it is estimated that just 17 per cent of global climate and conservation finance allocated for indigenous peoples and local communities’ forest management initiatives reaches them. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, Bryson Ogden of...

Uganda is experiencing its first outbreak in a decade of the deadly Ebola disease caused by Sudan virus, health authorities announced in September. More than 40 cases and at least 29 deaths have been reported, including four health workers. Nine of these deaths are from confirmed cases. While there are vaccines against the more common Zaire strain, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics fo...

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to public health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites can change their make-up and become resistant to the drugs that are used to treat them, such as antibiotics. One major challenge the continent faces is the lack of data to provide insight into the extent of the problem.  In this episode of Africa Science Focus, African Societ...

Despite contributing the least greenhouse gas emissions globally, Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing some of the greatest impacts of climate change. Increasingly harsh weather conditions including higher temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns, as well as rising sea levels are leading to floods, droughts and other extreme weather events that are exacerbating poverty in the region. In this ep...

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s largest burden of sickle cell disease - the World Health Organisation says 66 per cent of the 120 million people affected globally live in Africa. And over half of the estimated 1,000 children born with the disease every year will die before they turn five.   In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we learn about the myths and misconceptions surrounding sickle c...

Farmers rely on fertiliser to ensure they get a good yield from their crops, particularly when soils are depleted, as is the case in parts of the African continent. But the cost of fertiliser has been soaring, especially due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict , and it is taking its toll on the price of food . In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we speak to Agnes Kalibata - the president of the Al...

As this year’s World Water Week draws to a close, our reporter Michael Kaloki investigates Africa’s growing water needs – and how to improve infrastructure and management to meet them.  Farmer Carol Mwangi tells Africa Science Focus why her efforts to overcome water challenges have left her in debt. And Olufunke Cofie, principal researcher and country representative for West Africa at the Internat...

Intramuscular injections, ones administered directly into the muscles, are a common way to treat people around the world. But it could lead to life-changing complications if done wrongly or too frequently.  In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we learn about gluteal fibrosis, a complication of intramuscular injections that occurs mostly in infancy and childhood and limits the functionality of...

Around three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases affecting humans are zoonotic, that is they emerge from wild and domestic animals. These zoonotic diseases cause one billion infections and millions of deaths, mostly in low-income countries, according to the World Health Organization .  In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we find out how scientists are taking on this critical issue throug...

Sudan’s long-running political unrest and instability have left the country in dire need of healthcare workers and services. A group of Sudanese in the diaspora are hoping to close the health gap using Project ECHO , a mentoring programme that uses telemedicine to connect rural communities and health workers with experts around the world. This week, Nada Fadul, a Sudanese-American infectious disea...

Ponmo – cow hide meat - is a popular food in parts of Nigeria and across West Africa. But nutritionists and scientists in the region warn about the safety and nutritional value of this local delicacy.  In this episode of Africa Science Focus, our reporter Royal Uche speaks with Abiodun Wahab, program operations officer at the One Health and Development Initiative, about the toxic bacteria found in...

Female genital schistosomiasis – FGS – affects an estimated 56 million women in Sub-Saharan Africa. But not much is known about how this debilitating condition affects women in Sub-Saharan Africa, despite its prevalence. As FGS symptoms mirror many sexually transmitted diseases, it is often misdiagnosed.  In this episode of Africa Science Focus, our reporter Michael Kaloki speaks to Tijani Salami,...

Endometriosis – a disease that occurs when tissues similar to the ones that line in the uterus, grow outside the uterus – affects one in ten women around the world. But not much is known about how this debilitating condition affects women in Sub-Saharan Africa, despite its prevalence.  In this episode of Africa Science Focus, our reporter, Royal Uche, follows the journey of two women who have suff...

Treatment abandonment is a major reason for Sub-Saharan Africa’s growing cancer death rates. Our reporter Michael Kaloki finds out why so many people are giving up on treatment, and what is being done to encourage people to stick with their treatments.  In the final episode of our three-part mini-series, Beatrice Wiafe, breast health expert and one of three lead researchers of a recent Lancet Onco...

Sub-Saharan Africa has an acute shortage of workers for cancer treatment and care. It means that, by 2030, there could be 1 million deaths annually in the region without intervention. In this second episode of our three-part mini-series, Africa Science Focus reporter Michael Kaloki follows up with Beatrice Wiafe, a breast health expert and one of the lead researchers of a cancer report by health j...

The cancer burden in Sub-Saharan Africa is rising. It is set to nearly double by 2030, with cancer deaths predicted to reach one million yearly  without intervention, a report by The Lancet Commission shows.  In the first episode of a special three-part mini-series, Africa Science Focus reporter Michael Kaloki speaks to the experts who unpack the reasons that 80 per cent of people in the region pr...

Conflict and drought have left millions of people in Ethiopia without access to food, water and healthcare. Health centres in the north of the country have been devastated by three years of violence. Meanwhile, the worst drought in forty years has hit agriculture and livestock in eastern and southern Ethiopia.   Millions of people around the country need urgent food aid, but fuel shortages have fo...

Monkeypox was first discovered in humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, and is now endemic in more than ten countries in Africa. Scientists in the region have spent years studying the disease, so this week on Africa Science Focus we spoke to the continent’s top monkeypox researchers to find out what the world can learn from Africa.       The current outbreaks of monkeypox in countrie...

Writing computer code might seem daunting. But across Sub-Saharan Africa, children as young as three are learning how to talk to computers. Coding clubs are springing up all over Africa to teach the region’s future tech leaders how to do everything from building computer games, to creating smartphone apps, controlling robots, and running scientific experiments. This week on Africa Science Focus, w...

Coffee is a major industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, supplying around ten per cent of the world’s coffee beans. But coffee plants are under threat from climate change. This week on Africa Science Focus, our reporter Michael Kaloki heads to the first G25 African Coffee Summit in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, to find out what the continent’s coffee future looks like.  We hear from Elijah Gichuru, the direc...

Every year, dog bites that spread the rabies virus cause more than 59,000 preventable deaths – 99 per cent of them in Africa and Asia. This week on Africa Science Focus, we hear from Ahmed Lugelo in Tanzania, whose research team spent almost 15 years following around 50,000 dogs to find out why rabies still exists in the Serengeti district .  We learn about a potential new single dose human vaccin...

Maize yields are expected to be drastically lower this season than in previous years in drought-hit Sub-Saharan Africa. While the drop will affect the entire region, Kenya is facing the biggest struggle as one of the region's largest importers of the staple food.   This week on Africa Science Focus, maize buyers and sellers tell us that prices are already soaring in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi....

Basic living costs are rising across Africa and around the world. The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises paints a picture of increasing hunger and malnutrition, with almost 200 million people worldwide in need of urgent assistance.  The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria are among the ten countries with the highest number of people in crisis. This week, Africa Science Focus reporter...

mRNA vaccine technology has been a game-changer in the management of COVID-19. Now, scientists are looking to take on other infectious diseases that have burdened Sub-Saharan Africa for decades.  This week, Africa Science Focus reporter Michael Kaloki finds out how African researchers cracked the code of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. And, he hears how the technology could offer a much-needed breakth...