SciDev.Net Podcasts

زعزعة الاستقرار ثم جائحة كوفيد-19، ثم الحرب الروسية الأوكرانية عوامل فاقمت المشكلة ولم تسمح أبدا بتمام التعافيBy SciDev.Net

Spina bifida is a birth defect that affects the proper formation of the spine. It can lead to complications that can cause both physical and intellectual disabilities, and even death. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, our reporter, Ijeoma Ukazu, talks to Lawrencia Dyawei, mother of a child with spina bifida about the challenges she and her c…

We have come to the end of season three of the Africa Science Focus podcast and we decided to compile some insights on science in Sub-Saharan Africa from some of the science conferences we attended in 2022. At the 2022 World science forum, Cape Town, South Africa, Tumelo Nhlapo of the University of South Africa’s Science Engagement Centre tells us …

In Africa, rising temperatures have resulted in extreme weather events like floods and droughts that threaten lives and livelihoods. In order to tackle climate change, people need to know how to take action. And the younger they are when they lean, the better. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we speak to the founders of social enterprise Ea…

Eastern and Southern Africa have the highest HIV/AIDS burden in the world. And it is mostly women and girls in low- and middle-income countries who bear the greatest burden. This year, World AIDS Day highlighted the inequalities holding back progress in ending HIV/AIDS. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we speak to Anne Githuku-Shongwe, UNAI…

Oral diseases are largely preventable, yet a recent World Health Organization report reveals that half of the global population has some form of oral disease. And most of these people live in low- and middle-income countries. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we speak to Morenike Oluwatoyin Ukpong, professor of paediatric dentistry and the d…

Africa produces only one per cent of its routine vaccines. This leaves the region dependent on imports for its vaccine needs, and makes it vulnerable to a vaccine crisis during health emergencies. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, Ebere Okereke, senior technical advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and honorary senior public…

Progress towards universal health care in Africa is slow, and according to the World Health Organization 80 per cent of Africans depend instead on traditional medicine. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, Oluwagbemiga Aina, head of the centre for traditional, complementary and alternative medicine at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research,…

African currencies are in free-fall, with hard-biting inflation hitting double digits in countries like Ghana and Nigeria, putting food nearly out of reach for many. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we speak to Churchill Ogutu, a Kenyan economist, who unpacks the links between currency depreciation and poverty. And Ndubusi Nwokoma, director…

Nigeria is facing its worse flooding in a decade with building and infrastructure submerged and lives and livelihoods lost. While climate change does play a role, poor infrastructure and poor preparation have intensified the situation. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we get the backstory from Professor Nelson Odume, acting director of the …

Africa is largely a coastal continent, with more than 70 per cent of African countries having a coastline. Much of the region depends on the ocean for food and income, but the changing climate is causing Africa’s coastal communities to deal with rising sea levels and dwindling resources. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, Dickson Gereza, a fi…

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…

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…

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,…

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 thi…

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 …

Un natif du village relève les contradictions qui entourent le projet.By SciDev.Net

Pour l'autorité traditionnelle, le projet d'exploitation du fer de Lobé menace l'existence même de son peuple.By SciDev.Net

Le délégué national de l'ONG Planète Urgence au Cameroun décrit l'impact de l'exploitation du fer à Lobé au sud du CamerounBy SciDev.Net

Le délégué national de l'ONG Planète Urgence au Cameroun décrit l'impact de l'exploitation du fer à Lobé.By SciDev.Net

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 t…

Ange R. Miessan, miss maths 2022 en Côte d'Ivoire, décrit sa passion pour cette science by SciDev.NetBy SciDev.Net

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 s…

Notre magazine “Santé, Science et Développement” se penche cette semaine sur les décès de femmes durant l’accouchement, avec un focus sur la Côte d’Ivoire. Cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous pour l’écouter…By SciDev.Net

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 count…

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 infan…

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 sci…

Pr Mamadou Abdoul Diop : La necessaire collaboration entre les décideurs et les matéhématiciens by SciDev.NetBy SciDev.Net

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,…

Mireille Mpoudi Elamè, chercheure à l'ANRS et médecin à l'hôpital militaire de Yaoundé, décrit les circonstances du recours à la PrEP contre le VIH/sida au CamerounBy SciDev.Net

Joseph Larmarange, chercheur à l'IRD, décrit les moyens de prévention du VIH/sida en Afrique subsaharienne.By SciDev.Net

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 Developm…

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…

Le pneumologue Bertrand Hugo Mbatchou de l'hôpital général de Douala au Cameroun, explique les raisons de la méconnaissance de cette pathologie.By SciDev.Net

Le cardiologue camerounais Emmanuel Eroume A Egom de l’Institut de recherches médicales et d’études des plantes médicinales (IMPM), décrit l'hypertension artérielle pulmonaire et le traitement qu'il y propose.By SciDev.Net

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 Uch…

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 …

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 t…

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 rea…

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 …

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. Th…

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…

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 l…

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 lear…

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 al…

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…

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…

Curiosités et enjeux de la résistance à l'Artémisinine en AfriqueBy SciDev.Net

Quelques conséquences de la résistance à l'Artémisinine.By SciDev.Net

Half of humanity is at risk of the devastating effects of climate breakdown. This disruption in nature, caused mainly by human actions, threatens the planet’s welfare, particularly in poor and developing countries, many of which are in Africa. In the second episode of Season Three, Africa Science Focus talks to a strawberry farmer in Kenya and the …