Nigeria Health Watch
By Leocadia Bongben (Lead Writer) Jean Firwa and his wife Martha were excited to be expecting a baby after 10 years of trying to conceive. However, neither realised that their joy would be short-lived. On the morning of May 15, 2015, tragedy struck for the couple. Experiencing sharp pains, Martha needed to be transported to […]
By Rabson Kondowe (Lead Writer) Martha Mastala knew something was wrong with her 5-year-old son when she noticed that he was less jovial than usual, so she took him to Wimbe Health Centre in Kasungu district, Central Malawi, where he tested positive for malaria. The health centre had run out of anti-malaria drugs, but an […]
By Josephine Chinele A sanitary towel is a basic need for every girl and woman and must be available to them when they need it. But where there is no access to sanitary towels due to financial hardship, women and girls in low resource settings like Malawi have learnt to value the dual functions of […]
Ìgwèbụ̀íké is an Igbo phrase which means “there is strength in community.” Community plays an important role in every aspect of our lives. Having a sense of community unites us. Being a part of a community can make us feel as though we are a part of something greater than ourselves. Since 2017, through the […]
Health care should be equitable. This means it must be accessible to anyone, regardless of social class, or place of residence. For a pregnant woman dwelling either in the hills of Rwanda, or in the deserts of Niger Republic, comprehensive antenatal care and support is very important. The work of providing critical care to women […]
By Farai Shawn Matiashe (Lead Writer) In Zana 3, Wedza District, 131 kilometres south of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, Talent Zindi, 21, a subsistence farmer, is inspecting the ear flowers of a maize plant in her field. She will be harvesting her maize crop in two weeks. Zindi says the harvest season reminds her […]
By Christabel Ligami (Lead Writer) Esther Wawire, 23, delivered her daughter at Kenya’s Punwani Hospital two weeks ago, but was unable to breastfeed due to complications arising from the delivery. “I had high blood pressure, so my baby was born earlier than expected, weighing 800 grams,” she said. “My pressure didn’t go down immediately, and […]
By Rabson Kondowe and Feston Malekezo (Lead Writers) “I thought I was going to die, I nearly gave birth on a ship,” Lucy Chirambo said somberly. It was in the wee hours of a cold July in 2016 when Chirambo started showing labour signs. Without hesitation, her husband hastily took her to Tchalo Health Centre, […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of challenges and disruptions to our lives. The livelihood of people has been affected and the pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental and psychological health. In Zimbabwe, Friendship Bench, a community-based approach is providing solutions to people struggling with their mental health during this pandemic. Friendship […]
In August 2020, Nigeria became the last African country to be declared free from wild poliovirus. This was achieved by relentless vaccination efforts across urban and rural communities, including awareness campaigns and deployment of personnel to communities to carry out vaccination programmes. An underlying, but essential enabler of this success story was the use of […]
Every day, an estimated 800 million girls and women around the world experience their menstrual flow. Commonly known as a period, menstruation is a normal biological process that girls and women go through to ensure good reproductive health. However, a large number of menstruating girls and women continue to face persistent challenges in managing their […]
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Kenya, the government has taken strict preventive measures to contain its spread. Some of these measures include compulsory wearing of masks all the time while in public places, washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds several times a day, maintaining a distance of at […]
About Torchlight Africa In 2018, Nigeria Health Watch launched its Solutions Journalism series, known as Torchlight Series. The series are articles that go beyond reports and analysis of topical health issues and challenges, seeking out stories that focus on responses and solutions to the many challenges the Nigerian health sector is facing. Expanding on this, […]