News and blog

A new pneumococcal vaccine designed for the developing world will roll out in health centres across Kenya next week as part of a global plan that could prevent more than seven million childhood deaths by 2030. Kenya is the fifth country worldwide and the second in...

"Global health? You must find your work so rewarding!" said a flight attendant who chatted me up on my recent trip from Seattle to Washington. "Indeed I do," I replied, and especially right now. The truth is, the rewards of a career in public health are infrequent...

The maxim, 'The poor pay more', is a paradox which many do not readily comprehend. A likely question from the casual thinker is 'How does the poor pay more, when the poor, in fact, has no money?' Someone who explained the truism offered this example: "I...

"We know that the African Union summit is still very masculine but we are trying to bring in the voices of women," said Gertrude Mongella, former president of the Pan-African parliament, explaining the rationale behind the shadow summit organised by the Gender is my Agenda...

I am a touch obsessed with the future. And others are too. For a real "report from the future" you should read The Great Transition Today by Paul Raskin, dateline Mandela City, 2084. The stimulating report is a think piece looking back on how the...

As a polio survivor, I have long imagined a world free of the disease. Today we are incredibly close to eradicating polio for good. Critics questioned that goal in your article “In Battle Against Polio, a Call for a Final Salvo” (Feb. 1). I was 4...

So much has been said about Africa’s potential to feed itself, but unless we help the millions of smallholder farmers to actually grow more food, we will never go from potential to reality. And farmers cannot increase their yields without better inputs. It is for this...