Africa Science Focus

Episode 40

Clean energy can power sustainable economic growth by improving access to knowledge, boosting health and wellbeing, and improving the lives of women and children, the United Nations says. This week on Africa Science Focus, reporter Michael Baruti asks whether universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy can be achieved in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, in the face of disruptions caused by the pandemic. 

 This episode is the first in a special three-part series, ‘Energising Africa’, where we investigate progress towards electricity, infrastructure and network access on the continent. 

 And, in this week’s Q&A segment, Samson Magombo from Henry Henderson Institute in Malawi has a question on coronavirus mutations. Send us your questions from anywhere in the world — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

 Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi. 

Episode 39

 With the confirmation that malaria parasites in Rwanda have developed resistance to artemisinin — a first-line drug used to treat malaria, which kills around 400,000 people a year worldwide — public health teams in Africa are asking what this could mean for the battle against malaria. Elsewhere on the continent, malaria vaccine trials have reported success.  

 This week on Africa Science Focus, reporter Charles Pensulo speaks to Karen Barnes from the University of Cape Town, who leads the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network’s Southern Africa Regional Centre, and malaria specialist Elizabeth Juma, a medical officer with the World Health Organization. 

 And, in this week’s Q&A segment, Wakin Octavia from Henry Henderson Institute in Malawi has a question about chemistry. 

Is there something you want to know about life, health or science in Africa? Send us your questions from anywhere in the world and we’ll find an expert to answer them — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi. 

Episode 37

 Africa’s prisons are hotbeds of disease and hunger — problems that have been heightened by COVID-19, a lack of resources and poor planning, health and rights advocates tell Africa Science Focus.  

This week, reporter Charles Pensulo speaks to a former inmate of Malawi’s notoriously overcrowded prisons, who tells us what life was like behind the walls. We hear about the public health threat from tuberculosis and HIV from Thokozile Phiri-Nkhoma, the executive director of Facilitators of Community Transformation, while Alexious Kamangila from the legal non-profit Reprieve tells us why the poorest members of Malawi’s society still find themselves trapped in the system.

 Malawi Prisons Service has acknowledged that it continues to face operational challenges, including inadequate funding, dilapidated infrastructure and old legislation, despite efforts to implement international prison standards 

 And, in this week’s Q&A segment, Cindy from St Therese Girls’ Secondary School in Zambia has a fantastic question about coronavirus.

Is there something you want to know about life, health or science in Africa? Send us your questions from anywhere in the world and we’ll find an expert to answer them — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

 Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi. 

Episode 36

 Cultural and social norms, and myths about how modern contraceptives affect men’s virility are just some of the reasons why the uptake of contraception remains low in Sub-Saharan Africa, despite increasing demand. 

This week on Africa Science Focus, Effie Chipeta from the Malawi College of Medicine tells us about the growing demand for contraceptives, while Tazirwa Chipeta speaks about the services available from the Family Planning Association of Malawi. Over in Uganda, Moses Odongo from the non-profit Family Medical Point tells us about outreach programmes among the lakeshore communities of Lake Victoria.

 Is there something you want to know about science in Africa? Send us your questions from anywhere in the world and we’ll find an expert to answer them — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

 Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi. 

Episode 35

Music is at the heart of many African cultures. Now, music is taking centre stage in health communication and treatment — particularly in rural communities, where access to television, radio, the internet and electricity is limited. 

This week on Africa Science Focus, we hear how music can be a game-changer when it comes to fighting disease. Edward Kabuye has been drumming up interest in cancer and HIV for years, while Joy Mugambi from the World Organization of Family Doctors Africa region tells us how music has been used to communicate about coronavirus. 

Is there something you want to know about science in Africa? Send us your questions from anywhere in the world and we’ll find an expert to answer them — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi. 

This programme was funded by the European Journalism Centre, through the European Development Journalism Grants programme, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Episode 33

With new Ebola outbreaks in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa Science Focus investigates whether the Ebola virus can be sexually transmitted. 

 It is understood that the women who were the first reported patients in both countries were married to survivors of previous Ebola outbreaks. Scientists say this possible transmission link needs careful attention, without further stigmatising survivors, who face ongoing health and social challenges.  

 We hear from the World Health Organization’s Margaret Harris, founder of the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors Yusuf Kabba, and Merawi Aragaw from the Africa CDC. And, researcher Jia Kangbai tells us about his new study, which will investigate what role sex could play in transmission of the Ebola virus.

 Is there something you want to know about science in Africa? Send us your questions from anywhere in the world and we’ll find an expert to answer them — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

 Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi. 

Episode 32

Biotechnology, indigenous knowledge, climate change and banana trees. This week, Africa Science Focus sits down with United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity executive secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema to discuss biodiversity and environment on the continent.   

With the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration officially launching in June, local solutions and innovations will play a leading role in driving sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mrema says. 

Is there something you want to know about science in Africa? Send us your questions from anywhere in the world and we’ll find an expert to answer them — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi. 

Episode 31

About six million people were affected by floods in 2020, from Rwanda to South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and beyond. Flooding can lead to disease outbreaks, such as cholera, and damage livelihoods, crops and the environment.

Why have floods become so bad in East Africa, and what can be done to prevent them? 

Africa Science Focus reporter Njenje Chizu speaks to Sally Tembo from the Environmental and Public Health Union of Zambia, environmental health technologist Henry Zimba and Robert Chimambo from the Zambian Climate Change Network.

Is there something you want to know about science in Africa? Send us your questions from anywhere in the world and we’ll find an expert to answer them — text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.  

Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi.