Mary Mwanyika-Sando, MD, spearheaded improvements in maternal and child health programs in Dar es Salaam, rolling out anti-retroviral treatment in dozens of clinics as part of a campaign that became a model for many other sub-Saharan African countries. One key to a healthy future for Africa, Mwanyika-Sando says, is involving the women patients themselves in …
Jacques Sebisaho, MD, is from one of the remotest places in Africa: Idjwi island in Lake Kivu between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. While neighboring countries have been beset by wars and violence Idjwi has remained a peaceful oasis, albeit one left behind by many development advances that have been made in better-known …
After working as an internist in southern Nigeria, Effiong was inspired to look at the broader determinants of health and healthcare in the developing world. Nigeria’s booming oil industry accounts for more than 90 percent of the country’s earnings, but is also increasingly harmful to public health due to a series of environmental and occupational …
When it comes to killer diseases in Africa many people think of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, or even Ebola. But the reality is that diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease – known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – are a major threat. It’s estimated that there will be about 3.9 million deaths from these diseases in …
The Ebola epidemic sweeping through West Africa is causing understandable panic in local communities and international concern about the future spread of this killer virus. Yet there’s another disease which has been more deadly this year. One that nearly cost me my medical career, and which – unlike Ebola – can be easily prevented. "This …