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# Health Issues Africa: Independent African health reporting from FINN Partners. Field reporting, expert perspectives and original analysis covering African health policy, science, and storytelling.

## Sitemaps
[XML Sitemap](https://healthissuesafrica.com/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Insights
- [Africa’s Children Are Growing Up Digital. Are Our Schools Keeping Up?](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/africas-children-are-growing-up-digital-are-our-schools-keeping-up/): For some African children, the distance to the digital future is three kilometers.
- [The Case for Putting Brain Health at the Center of Africa’s Future](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/the-case-for-putting-brain-health-at-the-center-of-africas-future/): Africa is often described as the continent of the future. By 2050, one in four people in the world will be African. Its young population is expected to drive economic growth, fuel innovation and supply much of the global workforce. Yet amid conversations about infrastructure, industrialization and digital transformation, one of the continent’s greatest assets receives surprisingly little attention: the human brain.
- [Why Truth Must Travel Faster Than Fear](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/why-truth-must-travel-faster-than-fear/): In today’s digital age, public health authorities are no longer just fighting disease, they are racing against a wave of viral misinformation. From panic-inducing WhatsApp voice notes to AI-generated health claims, emotional falsehoods can outpace institutional facts. To bridge this “truth gap,” health organizations must recognize that while science hasn’t changed, how people discover it has. Winning this fight requires delivering accurate health information faster through trusted local voices, relatable storytelling, and human-centered channels.
- [The Next Chapter for Africa’s Health Media Ecosystem](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/the-next-chapter-for-africas-health-media-ecosystem/): When journalists and health stakeholders speak regularly, the quality of reporting improves and so does public understanding.
- [Every Beat Counts: Africa’s Struggle with Hypertension and Heart Disease](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/every-beat-counts-africas-struggle-with-hypertension-and-heart-disease/)
- [How Africa’s Clean Mobility Revolution Can Transform Health and Cities](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/how-africas-clean-mobility-revolution-can-transform-health-and-cities/)
- [AI and Mental Health in Africa: A Quiet Digital Shift Is Making Therapy More Accessible](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/ai-and-mental-health-in-africa-a-quiet-digital-shift-is-making-therapy-more-accessible/)
- [As Part of the Fight Against Malaria in West Africa, National Budgets Are Replacing the Suspended International Aid](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/as-part-of-the-fight-against-malaria-in-west-africa-national-budgets-are-replacing-the-suspended-international-aid/)
- [What Will Happen to Global Health?](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/what-will-happen-to-global-health/)
- [The Changing Face of Foreign Aid: Strategies for Ensuring Visibility Amidst Shifting Donor Dynamics](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/the-changing-face-of-foreign-aid-strategies-for-ensuring-visibility-amidst-shifting-donor-dynamics/)
- [Breaking Barriers: How AmplifyChange is Shaping the Future of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Africa Amid Crisis](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/breaking-barriers-how-amplifychange-is-shaping-the-future-of-sexual-and-reproductive-health-rights-in-africa/)
- [Do You Doubt Your Impact? The Heart of Health Communications](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/do-you-doubt-your-impact-the-heart-of-health-communications/)
- [We Need Bold People to Change the Way Health Is Run](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/we-need-bold-people-to-change-the-way-health-is-run/)
- [The Evolution of Healthcare in Kenya Amidst Doctor’s Strike and the Rise of Digital Health Innovations](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/the-evolution-of-healthcare-in-kenya-amidst-doctors-strike-and-the-rise-of-digital-health-innovations/)
- [Sustaining Progress in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/sustaining-progress-in-the-fight-against-hiv-aids/)
- [Facing the Floods: Kenya’s Climate Change Crisis](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/facing-the-floods-kenyas-climate-change-crisis-2/)
- [The Tricky Politics of Healthy Ageing](https://healthissuesafrica.com/insights/the-tricky-politics-of-healthy-ageing/)

## Health issues
- [Tuberculosis](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/tuberculosis/): The WHO African Region recorded 2.7 million people newly ill with TB and 378,000 deaths in 2024. TB incidence fell 28% and deaths fell 46% between 2015 and 2024.
- [Antimicrobial Resistance](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/antimicrobial-resistance/): 1.05 million deaths associated with bacterial AMR in the WHO African Region. Western sub-Saharan Africa has the world's highest AMR-attributable death rate. AMR deaths exceed HIV/AIDS and malaria combined.
- [Cholera and Diarrhoeal Disease](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/cholera-and-diarrhoeal-disease/): Africa is experiencing its worst cholera outbreak in 25 years: approximately 300,000 cases and more than 7,000 deaths in 2025. Cholera cases rose 141% between 2014 and 2024.
- [Malnutrition and Childhood Undernutrition](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/malnutrition-and-childhood-undernutrition/): Sub-Saharan Africa hosts approximately 62 million stunted children under five. About 45% of all child deaths in Africa are linked to malnutrition.
- [Mental Health](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/mental-health/): Mental health conditions affect 116 million Africans today. Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's highest depression DALY rate (1,137 per 100,000) and the highest regional suicide rate (11.5 per 100,000).
- [Diabetes](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/diabetes/): 24.6 million adults in Africa live with diabetes — projected to reach 59.5 million by 2050, a 142% increase. 73% are undiagnosed, the highest proportion of any region globally.
- [Cancer](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/cancer/): 1,154,584 new cancer cases and 754,574 deaths in Africa annually. 18 of the 20 countries with the highest cervical cancer burden are in the WHO African Region.
- [Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/cardiovascular-disease-and-hypertension/): Hypertension affects 74.7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, projected to reach 125.5 million by 2025. NCDs will overtake all communicable diseases combined by 2030.
- [HIV/AIDS](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/hiv-aids/): Sub-Saharan Africa is home to half of all new HIV infections globally and 61% of AIDS-related deaths. 630,000 people died from AIDS-related causes in 2024.
- [Lower Respiratory Infections and Childhood Pneumonia](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/lower-respiratory-infections-and-childhood-pneumonia/): Lower respiratory infections were the leading single cause of death in Africa in 2021, accounting for 8.6% of all deaths. Pneumonia is the leading post-neonatal infectious killer of children.
- [Neonatal and Maternal Mortality](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/neonatal-and-maternal-mortality/): Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 182,000 maternal deaths in 2023 — 70% of the global total. A woman in the region is over 130 times more likely to die from pregnancy than one in Australia.
- [Malaria](https://healthissuesafrica.com/health-issues/malaria/): 95% of the world's malaria deaths occur in Africa. 265 million cases and 579,000 deaths in 2024 — with children under five accounting for 75% of fatalities.

## Report chapters
- [Western Legacy Media Perspectives on Global Health](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/western-legacy-media-perspectives/): Drawing on interviews with journalists from France, the UK, and the United States, this section outlines how Western legacy media currently frame global health—and how that frame is shifting under the dual pressures of a broken business model and a continent that is asserting ownership of its own narrative.
- [Uganda: A Focus on Health Financing and Digital Transformation](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/uganda/): Uganda's health sector is currently defined by an intense and urgent focus on health financing, driven by recent cuts in donor countries aid, as well as persistent domestic budgetary constraints and competing national spending priorities. This challenge has catalysed a proactive national response, including a robust embrace of digital health solutions to expand access to care, empower patients, and strengthen the overall health system.
- [Tanzania: Funding Strains, Rising NCDs, and a Shifting Media Landscape](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/tanzania/): Understanding Tanzania's health and media environment is critical, as the country navigates complex challenges around healthcare financing, rising non-communicable diseases, and adapting to shifts in international aid. The Tanzanian experience offers insight into how health systems across Africa are responding to funding shocks, emerging disease threats, and evolving public expectations.
- [South Africa: Youth Health, Funding Uncertainty, and the Media at a Breaking Point](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/south-africa/): South Africa's health media landscape in 2025–2026 reflects a convergence of deepening health needs, funding uncertainty, and mounting pressure on journalism itself. Insights from health journalists and advocates point to a “perfect storm” in which longstanding communicable disease burdens coexist with rapidly growing non-communicable diseases, mental health challenges, and systemic inequities. These pressures are unfolding against the backdrop of post-COVID recovery and increasing instability in global health financing, particularly linked to shifts in US policy.
- [Senegal: The Push for Health Sovereignty and Recognition of Traditional Medicine](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/senegal/): Senegal's health and media landscape is shaped by a forward-looking national ambition for health sovereignty, driven by a strategic focus on local production and adaptation to funding challenges. This push for self-reliance is complemented by a unique and powerful call for the official recognition and integration of traditional African medicine into the formal health system.
- [Nigeria: Confronting a Brain Drain and Health System Strain](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/nigeria/): Nigeria's health sector is navigating a perfect storm of crises, characterised by a severe “brain drain” of its healthcare workforce, recurrent and deadly disease outbreaks, and the profound economic aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. This combination of factors has placed immense strain on an already fragile system, making health a top-tier issue of national concern.
- [Morocco: Reforming for Universal Coverage and Bridging the Trust Gap](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/morocco/): The national conversation in Morocco is currently dominated by an ambitious and sweeping reform of the health system aimed at achieving universal social protection for all citizens. This monumental undertaking is unfolding within a complex media environment characterised by a deep-seated climate of structural mistrust between health actors and journalists.
- [Kenya: The Intersection of Climate and Health](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/kenya/): Kenya stands at the forefront of a critical global conversation: the undeniable link between climate change and public health. In the Kenyan media landscape, environmental issues are no longer siloed but are increasingly recognised as primary drivers of health crises, from infectious disease outbreaks to malnutrition. This interdisciplinary approach is reshaping health journalism in the country.
- [Ghana: Confronting NCDs and Driving Towards Health Sovereignty](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/ghana/): Ghana's health sector is at a pivotal moment, defined by the alarming rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and a determined national push towards health sovereignty through domestic funding and self-reliance. This strategic pivot, catalysed by shifts in international aid, highlights a broader continental ambition to take ownership of health priorities.
- [Egypt: Health Pressures at the Crossroads of Climate, Conflict, and Systemic Strain](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/egypt/): Egypt's health landscape reflects wider North African dynamics shaped by climate change, regional instability, and post-COVID system fatigue. With a rapidly growing population concentrated along the Nile, the country faces rising health demand while adapting to shifting disease patterns and constrained resources. Media coverage increasingly positions Egypt within a regional risk environment influenced by conflict in neighbouring countries and cross-border health threats.
- [Côte d’Ivoire: Building Resilience and “Decolonising” the Health Narrative](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/cote-divoire/): The health and media landscape in Côte d'Ivoire is defined by two powerful, interconnected themes: a determined focus on strengthening health system resilience in a post-pandemic world, and an emphatic call to “decolonise” the global health narrative. This movement seeks to dismantle outdated power dynamics by prioritising local expertise, funding local storytellers, and centering African solutions.
- [Cameroon: Navigating Epidemics and Disinformation](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/cameroon/): Cameroon's health and media environment is of strategic importance, as the nation confronts the dual pressures of recurrent epidemics and a pervasive wave of health disinformation. The country's experience offers a microcosm of the challenges facing much of the continent: a fragile health system tested by repeated outbreaks and a public trust deficit exacerbated by misinformation.
- [A Call to Action](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/a-call-to-action/): The Africa Health Media Trends Report 2026 closes with a clear call to action: African health journalism needs deliberate, sustained investment from a coalition of governments, NGOs, funders, and the private sector. The recommendations below are drawn from the journalists, editors, and advocates who contributed to the report — the people closest to the daily work of telling African health stories.
- [Country-by-Country Analysis](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/country-by-country-analysis/): The second half of the Africa Health Media Trends Report 2026 presents a country-by-country analysis of African health media — in-depth interviews with journalists, editors, NGO representatives, and media practitioners across 11 key African nations. Each country snapshot maps the unique challenges, strengths, and emerging trends shaping local health reporting.
- [The 2026 Narrative Landscape](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/the-2026-narrative-landscape/): The 2026 narrative landscape across African health media is shaped by two dominant forces — the escalating burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and the persistent threat of communicable diseases — unfolding against a backdrop of shrinking external funding. The convergence has been described as a "code red for journalism": the economic model for science reporting is eroding precisely when rigorous, trusted reporting is most needed to counter health misinformation.
- [Methodology](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/methodology/): The Africa Health Media Trends Report 2026 is based on 36 in-depth interviews with journalists, editors, and specialised experts across 11 key media hubs in Africa, alongside a selection of Western legacy media. The report launched in Nairobi on 26 February 2026.

## Podcast episodes
- [Trust in Science in the Digital Age: What Africa Needs](https://healthissuesafrica.com/podcast/trust-in-science-in-the-digital-age-what-africa-needs/): In this episode of Voices in African Health, host Sharon Quntai converses with Vivianne Ihekwezea, Managing Director of Nigeria Health Watch, to examine the rapidly changing landscape of health communications following the World Health Summit.
- [What’s Next in Health Journalism?](https://healthissuesafrica.com/podcast/whats-next-in-health-journalism/)
- [Climbing Mt. Kenya After Cancer: Stories of Survival](https://healthissuesafrica.com/podcast/climbing-mt-kenya-after-cancer-stories-of-survival/)
- [The Health-Peace Equation. Why Equity Starts with Leadership](https://healthissuesafrica.com/podcast/the-health-peace-equation-why-equity-starts-with-leadership/)
- [Africa’s Voice in a Changing Global Health Landscape](https://healthissuesafrica.com/podcast/africas-voice-in-a-changing-global-health-landscape/)
- [Voices in African Health Podcast Trailer](https://healthissuesafrica.com/podcast/voices-in-african-health-podcast-trailer/)

## Pages
- [Contact](https://healthissuesafrica.com/contact-finn-africa/)
- [About Health Issues Africa](https://healthissuesafrica.com/about-finn-africa/): Voices In African Health features in-depth conversations with the clinicians, researchers, journalists, and policymakers shaping the continent's health story.
- [Africa Health Media Trends Report 2026](https://healthissuesafrica.com/report/)
- [Home](https://healthissuesafrica.com/): Independent African Health Reporting