At least 15 high-tech beds inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Mulago National Referral Hospital are lying idle due to a chronic staffing shortage. Despite boasting a 27-bed capacity equipped with world-class technology valued at approximately UGX 200 billion, the hospital is forced to operate at less than half capacity. Currently, only 12 patients…
In the high-pressure environment of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Mulago Specialized Hospital, the line between professional duty and personal trauma is razor-thin. For Martha Alupo, the unit’s in-charge, nine years in the ICU have demanded constant resilience. Chronic staffing shortages only deepen the strain—one that rarely ends at the hospital doors. “It’s a…
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to pose a serious global health threat, but experts at a recent AMR Dialogues session warned that solutions must go beyond science and medicine to include gender equity, youth participation, and community-centered approaches. The discussion highlighted how women, gender-diverse communities, and young people experience disproportionate risks of infection, drug resistance, and…
As Africa enters a decisive decade in the fight against malaria, a new generation of African scientists is shaping the future of malaria research, innovation, and public health leadership. They are driven by personal experience, community connection, and the urgent reality of a preventable disease that still claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year…
Professor Abdoulaye Djimdé, a globally recognised malaria researcher from Mali, has been appointed to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board, bringing an important African perspective to a global body that provides independent scientific advice on science, technology, and innovation for sustainable development. A leading expert in malaria genomics and drug resistance, Professor Djimdé heads the…
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Kenyan courts issued a series of landmark rulings affirming abortion as a fundamental right, yet advocates warn that institutional stigma and administrative barriers continue to fuel a deadly national health crisis. According to a 2025 report by the Ministry of Health and the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), an estimated 792,694 induced abortions…
“Every girl, every woman has the right to grow up whole, safe, educated, and free from violence,” said Catherine Menganyi, a survivor of female genital mutilation stressing that ending FGM is not an act of charity, but of justice and describing the practice as part of a broader system that controls women’s bodies and normalises…
With just 58 months left to meet the 2030 deadline, global commitments to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and guarantee menstrual health for all are drifting off course. Although governments pledged under the Sustainable Development Goals to eliminate FGM/C and uphold dignity in menstrual health, the number of women and girls affected by FGM/C has…
Uganda has rolled out mandatory nationwide screening of newborns for sickle cell disease, a move health officials say will significantly reduce the disease’s contribution to under-five deaths and ease pressure on the country’s health system. Sickle cell disease (SCD) remains a major but under-recognized cause of child mortality in Uganda. Health ministry data show that…