Uganda discovered the Zika virus — and the solution for it →

It’s the Zika virus — which has infected tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people in the Americas in recent months and may be linked to a spate of children born with underdeveloped brains in Brazil — that’s now bringing Ugandan epidemiologists unexpected attention. Uganda Virus Research Institute scientists first discovered Zika in the blood of a rhesus monkey back in 1947. And while Uganda has never had an outbreak of the virus, the country’s unique approach to monitoring the spread of similar diseases could hold the key to stopping future epidemics in their tracks.

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The thorny ethics of embedding with do-gooders →

The shuttering of foreign bureaus has given freelancers a bigger role in covering international news, but when it comes to negotiating ethical gray areas like this, they are largely on their own. And though these relationships with NGOs and the UN are often restrictive, they are also potentially profitable and entirely necessary to safely and affordably report important stories. By working closely with these organizations, journalists may cede too much control to the humanitarian community. But if they refuse any humanitarian support, vital stories will go untold.

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Uganda's election worries Museveni camp more than it will admit →

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is treating his country’s election later this month as a coronation, not a contest, happy to cultivate the impression that the five-year extension to his already 30-year rule is all but a done deal. But the arrest this past weekend of a prominent general turned regime critic is the latest sign that Museveni’s camp is more worried about the vote—and its aftermath—than they are letting on. Read more.

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HIV in Mozambique: Starting and staying on treatment →

Mozambique has set ambitious targets for getting more people with HIV on treatment, and it is testing innovative ways to help them stay on the life-saving drugs. Read more.

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Will Nigeria's new government fix the health system →

Nigeria's health system has not received the attention or finances it needs to address the country's disease burdens. Will the new government address the problems? Read more.

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Looking for new funding models to address an ancient problem →

The global tuberculosis response has consistently suffered funding shortages, which contributed to the disease surpassing AIDS in 2014 as the world’s leading infectious killer. Now — in a bid to end the pandemic by 2035 — a new strategy is looking to alternative funding sources and new spending models that will help officials better take advantage of the available resources. Read more.

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The growing burden of NCDs in Nigeria →

While Nigeria's health system focuses on combating infectious diseases, a growing tide of non-communicable diseases in the burgeoning middle class threatens to eliminate health gains. Why isn't this issue being tackled? Read more.

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Quest for tuberculosis vaccine begins as scientists aim to beat disease by 2035 →

When her son Luluto was born 16 years ago, Yoliswa Qaku was eager to have him vaccinated against tuberculosis. Once he received the injection, she thought, he would be safe from the disease for the rest of his life. She learned earlier this year that this was never the case.

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PEPFAR strategy shift aims to get ahead of Mozambique epidemic →

Mozambique is at the outset of recalibrating its HIV response, following a global shift in approach by one of the primary donors to the country’s AIDS response — the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Read more.

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Mozambique struggles to contain HIV epidemic among young women →

At their first meeting, the group of 30 young women just eyed Nousa Winica warily. When she asked a question, they hurriedly dropped their gaze. It would be, she quickly realized, a struggle to earn their trust.

Winica spent the first few of their weekly gatherings sticking to light subjects – what chores they did, their favorite classes, even the weather – just to make the girls, pooled from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, comfortable sharing with her and with each other. Eventually, she started peppering the conversation with questions about HIV. What did they know about the disease? Could they explain how it was spread? What steps could they take to avoid getting infected?

After weeks of dragging answers out of them to the most banal questions, she was shocked at their interest in the topic. “They receive it with some kind of happiness,” she said. “Most of them have someone at home in the family who is sick. They have some questions about the disease.”

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Video killed a star charity: The downfall of Invisible Children →

It’s been nearly four years since Jason Russell sat down for a talk with his then-five-year-old son Gavin and sparked an international discussion. The father-son chat sets up "KONY 2012," a half-hour-long advocacy video for Invisible Children. Russell co-founded the group after a 2003 trip to northern Uganda exposed him and two friends to the atrocities the warlord Joseph Kony was perpetrating in the region. The video’s unexpected success catapulted Russell to global fame, but also cast Invisible Children as an archetype in an emerging debate about the nature of humanitarianism and the possible harms it might cause.

Even now, nearly a year after the organization handed control of its programs in northern Uganda over to local staff members and left the region, the community there is still grappling with the questions raised in the wake of the video’s release. There is deeply felt gratitude for the work the group did, but an uncertainty about what legacy they leave behind.

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Emmanuel Gasakure →

Cardiologist and former Dean of the then National University of Rwanda's Faculty of Medicine. Born in Butare, Rwanda, on April 13, 1958, he died in Kigali, Rwanda, on Feb 25, 2015, aged 56 years. Read more.

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South Sudan unexpectedly drives Uganda and Sudan's détente →

When Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni took a surprise mid-September trip to Khartoum to meet his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, it solidified the unexpected rapprochement in what had been one of Africa’s thorniest relationships. Two of the continent’s longest-serving leaders, Museveni and Bashir have spent much of the past two decades sniping at one another publicly as each secretly worked to destabilize the other’s government. Read more.

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Uganda's test and treat HIV program hauls in fishermen →

Last year, the Ugandan government began rolling out test and treat within communities at high risk, called “key populations” – people who maintain high HIV transmission rates, but are often difficult to reach. In Uganda, this means sex workers and long-distance truck drivers, as well as people living in the highly transient fishing communities – where HIV rates are often more than double the national prevalence of 7.2 percent. Read more.

Can South Sudan's leaders get peace right the second time? →

When South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, inked a new agreement in late August to end his country’s 20-month conflict, he seemed to be following a pattern the two warring sides had set in reaching or recommitting to an earlier deal to cease hostilities: Temporarily stave off international and regional pressure by signing, then allow it to collapse under the weight of continued fighting. True to form, clashes have continued into September, with each side accusing the other of attacks. Read more.

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