Even when we immunise all Australians who want to be protected against COVID-19, we’re unlikely to achieve herd immunity through vaccination alone. We need three other measures to open our borders.
Some of the first South African COVID-19 vaccine trial volunteers at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, in 2020.
EPA-EFE/Siphiwe Sibeko (Pool)
The strong disapproval of the South African government’s handling of the pandemic is a warning that crafting persuasive pro-vaccine messages is not enough.
Relying on donor funding means that the funder ultimately determines the health priorities. This is one reason why many programmes in Africa focus on a single disease such as HIV.
Human embryo research allows us to understand normal and abnormal human development.
Anusorn Nakdee/Shutterstock
The rule, which previously acted as the upper time limit on human embryo research, has been dropped, paving the way for research on older human embryos.
The government needs to vaccinate as many South Africans as possible.
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Failure to identify, understand and address the implications of unintended consequences inhibits the delivery of quality healthcare.
Teachers in Durban, South Africa. African countries should focus on getting people to wear masks and take other precautions against COVID-19.
Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images
National policies must incorporate good practices derived from lessons learnt so far to strengthen their health systems. Critical policy elements include preparedness and response.
Healthcare worker, Boitsholo Mfolo, inside the digital x-ray truck at one of Africa Health Research Institute’s mobile screening camps in rural KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
Samora Chapman/ Africa Health Research Institute
Emily B. Wong, Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI)
South Africa needs a public health response that expands the successes of the country’s HIV testing and treatment programme to provide care for multiple diseases.
HIV health and support groups offered COVID-19 testing and other community services during the pandemic.
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Having survived the HIV/AIDS pandemic, gay communities in the US were well equipped to get residents health and social services early in the pandemic, when the government’s COVID-19 response lagged.
When it comes to mental health, is digital technology a culprit or scapegoat?
Bianca Castillo/Unsplash
You’re probably wrong about how much time you spend on your devices, and that has big implications for the link between device use and mental health.
A COVID-19 field hospital in Santo Andre, Brazil. The pandemic has killed over 503,000 people in Brazil; just 11% of the population is fully vaccinated.
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Harsh socio-environmental factors, especially when they happen in the early years of a child’s life, can establish a developmental “biology of misfortune”.
Preventive strategies are the best methods of managing hearing impairment.
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Unidentified or late identified hearing impairment has significant implications for the speech-language, cognitive and scholastic development of the child.
Cecília Tomori, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Around the globe, 823,000 child deaths could be prevented annually with appropriate breastfeeding. Formula makers continue to defy a 40-year-old international code on marketing their product.
Researchers say conspiracy theories around COVID-19 are spreading at an alarming rate across the country — and they warn that misinformation shared online may lead to devastating consequences.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Gardening provides a helpful metaphor to help us understand how individual and platform approaches to misinformation need to be accompanied by policy and cultural reforms.
There are many occasions when there is a shortage of blood.
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The reasons for the hesitancy to donate blood are complex and include a fear of needles and lack of awareness. Awareness and education drives to dispel the fear of donating are important.
Green spaces are inequitably distributed across cities: The quality and quantity are lower in racialized neighbourhoods.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
Green spaces can be part of the plan to ‘build back better’ after COVID-19. But city officials and policy-makers must address systemic racism for urban green spaces to benefit public health.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand
Principal Medical Scientist and Head of Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Professor and Programme Director, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand