Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
malarialatest news & developments
Malaria is caused by a very complex organism (parasite) which was found in mosquitoes trapped in resin from 30 million years ago

Throwing basket of diagnostics, drugs, vaccines and mozzie stoppers at malaria has not stopped the disease

The disease we know as Malaria was thought to be caused by breathing “bad air” (mal aria) that emanates from swamps. This was not “fake news” but a lack of understanding and…

Doctors will need to pay attention not only to a patient’s physical health but also the person’s emotional, social and psychospiritual aspects.

National Health Insurance system will mean little if we don’t offer the right kind of care

Although the NHI offers much-needed reform, it must find a new way to care for patients – an approach that treats people emotionally, physically, socially, psychologically and…

Alternatives needed: A new body of research has found that exposure to DDT, used to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes, could affect men’s sperm. Photo: Pong Moji/Getty Images

‘DDT risk goes down generations’

Study finds fathers’ exposure to toxins might have health consequences for their children

A medical health worker injects the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to a woman as they visit door-to-door to deliver the vaccines to people who live far from health facilities in Siaya, Kenya, on May 18, 2021. (Photo by Brian ONGORO / AFP)

The climate crisis is also a health crisis

The interplay between climate change and the spread of pathogens means health systems must be ready for future crises and ensure equitable access to treatment

We all need to do our bit to end malaria – which affects millions of the world’s poorest – in our lifetime

Let’s wipe out malaria – before it wipes us out

We all need to do our bit to end malaria – which affects millions of the world’s poorest – in our lifetime

Jovia Kisaakye

Ugandan student develops mosquito repellant from sour milk

The death of Jovia Kisaakye’s brother from malaria and the family’s struggle to sell fresh milk led to the new product

Wrapped in a mosquito net to protect from malaria, a trader sleeps next to items. (Photo by Badru Katumba/AFP)

Artificial lights across Africa may alter the biting behaviours of mosquitoes

‘Artificial light is doing things to the environment that we don’t even think about’

After 30 years of research, the World Health Organisation is finally recommending the widespread use of a malaria vaccine. (Photo Illustration by Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images)

WHO announces first global malaria vaccine for children at risk

After 30 years of research, the World Health Organisation is finally recommending the widespread use of a malaria vaccine

Shield: A Tanzanian woman and her child use a mosquito net as a preventative measure against malaria.

Covid jab tech helps fight malaria

An estimated two-thirds of malaria deaths are among children under the age of five, most of them in Africa.

Up to one in five people can get long COVID — a condition in which someone keeps on feeling ill for months after their initial symptoms have cleared up. (Paul Botes)

The Covid pandemic has exacerbated weaknesses in health systems, particularly in poor countries

Strategic investments in health care for all are needed to ensure safe births, treatment of tuberculosis, malaria, measles, pneumonia and diarrhoea, and children are vaccinated

There were about 300 people aboard the ship, according to Saint Lucia authorities. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

The challenges of delivering a Covid-19 vaccine in Africa requires a new approach

It is imperative that we train healthcare workers and participate in continent-wide collaboration

Department needs to clarify policies so non-South African pregnant women, and children under six, can access the care guaranteed under the National Health Act. (Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images)

Covid-19 puts Sierra Leone’s expectant mothers at further risk

Almost 70% of the world’s maternal deaths happen in Africa. Now there’s coronavirus — and with poor prenatal and postnatal care on the continent, expectant mothers and children…

The work of older women in Africa is invisible and unpaid for, yet it holds families and communities together. Photo: File

The DRC’s response to Covid-19 must be tailored to local context

Immunisation and other preventative programmes for malaria, cholera, measles and malnutrition, which kill children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, must continue

A staff member of the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) screens passengers at a bus station after the government suspended all unnecessary movements for two weeks to curb the spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 22, 2020. – African countries have been among the last to be hit by the global COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic but as cases rise, many nations are now taking strict measures to block the deadly illness. (Photo by Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP)

Covid-19 in Africa: The good news and the bad

What might Africa look like in the wake of the pandemic? There’s enough change happening to keep both optimists happy and pessimists glum

Malaria cases could increase drastically during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaria deaths could double during Covid-19 pandemic, warns WHO

The World Health Organisation said people could die of preventable illnesses if steps to control malaria as well as immunisation for measles, yellow fever and polio are interrupted

Shield: A Tanzanian woman and her child use a mosquito net as a preventative measure against malaria.

In Sierra Leone, malaria spiked during Ebola. Will it happen again during Covid-19?

While Sierra Leone was grappling with Ebola, there was a spike in deaths from another disease – malaria. We need to make sure this does not happen again

Yes

Yes, edit our genes – but do it cautiously

We can now control our species genetic future but this power is ‘awesome and terrifying’

Honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion will carry humanity through any crisis. (Paul Joseph Brown/VillageReach)

Sharing best practice key to healthy results solutions

Healthcare workers from across Africa are working together to find last-mile solutions

Being sick in South Sudan is as horrific as being in war. (Getty)

In South Sudan, illness is as deadly as war

70% of all illness deaths are due to easily treatable malaria, acute watery diarrhoea and respiratory infections in Udier Village

Professor Tiaan de Jager

Striving for a malaria-free Africa

Communication Award for outreach and creating awareness by a team or individual