The continent, which has survived crushing ordeals brought by colonialism and capitalism, has built up experience in dealing with viral outbreaks such as Ebola
Ebola
Posted inHealth
Amaechi’s role in freeing Nigeria of the polio scourge
By Philemon Doro Adjekuko It has been about a year now since Nigeria recorded any case of polio. For over 17 years, the disease was on a rampage, especially in the northern part of the country. The country accounted for about 50% of global and 80% of African polio cases. Nigeria was the face of […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
In a world obsessed with passport tiers, citizenship is personal and political
By Robtel Neajai Pailey Late last week, I was informed that I would not be able to travel to Dubai for an important meeting scheduled months ago. Like other countries across the globe, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) halted travel for those with Guinean, Liberian, and Sierra Leonean passports during the height of the Ebola […]
Posted inEquality, General, Media
Africa, the dark continent?
By Matthew de la Hey “The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well you do not stand in one place” — Chinua Achebe Do they know it’s Christmas? Well of course they do. They’ll probably go to church, and then spend the day with their families. I find the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Geldof ends Ebola
LONDON, United Kingdom The world burst into spontaneous applause today after Bob Geldof announced that Band Aid’s song for Africa — Do They Know It’s Christmas — had cured the Ebola virus. Band Aid is the super-pop-cum-aid group that stopped famine in Ethiopia with song in the early eighties. Band Aid’s original, star-studded recording was […]
Posted inHealth, News/Politics
Relax, you’re not going to die of Ebola
Quite a number of things are killing South Africans at the moment. High salt diets. Farm attacks. Tuberculosis. Cardiovascular diseases. Giant rats on the loose in Alexandra. Viagra-induced heart attacks. Oscar … The list is endless. What’s not really a threat to most people, however, is Ebola. Take this from a self-confessed germaphobe like myself […]
Posted inHealth, News/Politics
Ebola lays bare the fragile nature of the ‘Africa rising’ narrative
The “Africa rising” narrative of the past couple of years is emotionally compelling for anyone living here. Not because such a rise would be deserved, but because it happens to be true. Investment in sub-Saharan Africa has been booming and the middle-class is burgeoning. Although not everywhere triumphant, democracy has taken vigorous root. On the […]
Posted inHealth, News/Politics
Beating Ebola in a global village
By Anayo Unachukwu While I was writing this piece, I received a news alert from the Washington Post, about the arrival to the US of Dr Kent Brantly, an American doctor, who was infected with Ebola while working in Liberia with a Christian missionary organisation — Samaritan’s Purse. His repatriation to his country was not […]
Posted inHealth, News/Politics
When a handshake can kill you…
As a doctor I greet many people, both new and familiar, every week, and inevitably we shake hands. It would feel awkward not to do so. This is the way I was brought up, that a firm handshake is a mark of strong character, part of the process of creating a good first impression, and […]