Category: Africa
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Diary of a doctor
Perpetual Enefuwa Salami Benin City, Nigeria Image by Macro Vector on Freepik The following is a work of fiction. It was my first day working as a resident physician at Emis Clinic. I recall crying my eyes out the day I finally received a transfer letter. I was elated, accidentally booted my dog to…
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Gruesome traditional medical practices in Nigeria
Ofor, Joshua Obase-Otumoyi Calabar, Nigeria Hamar woman with scarification in Turmi, Ethiopia. 2012. Photo by Bernard Gagnon. Via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. Among the various traditional practices that victimize women and girls in Nigeria, female genital mutilation (FGM) is the most reprehensible. It consists of removing part or all of the sensitive female genital…
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The Sufi healers of Sudan: caring for those without care
Ahmed Elhag Albany County, New York, United States Fig 1. Dervishes in Omdurman, Sudan gather at the Shrine of Shiekh Hamid Nil, a 19th century Sufi Saint of the Qadriyya Sufi order. Photo by the author. Traditional medicine has been the dominant form of healthcare for much of human history. To many today, traditional…
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The man who hated hospital
Emeka Chibuikem V. Enugu State, Nigeria Our Beautiful Life. Photo by Yusuff Suleiman. 2018. CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia. An emergency patient was in critical condition. The staff nurse on duty moved swiftly to attend to him. Then she went to the waiting hall to meet with the patient’s family and asked them why…
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C. Louis Leipoldt: The polymath physician and literary giant
Stephen Finn South Africa Fig 1: Afrikaans poet C. Louis Leipoldt c. 1910. Via Wikimedia. Public domain. Looking out across a landscape of dramatic mountains and purple and orange sunsets is a small cave. Listen carefully in this desolate place in a western corner of South Africa, and you will hear in the distance…
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Origin of yellow fever
Enrique Chaves-Carballo Kansas City, Kansas, United States Henry R. Carter (1852-1925), Public Health Service Assistant Surgeon General and yellow fever epidemiologist. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) The origin of yellow fever has been a controversial subject since the disease appeared in the New World. William C. Gorgas, who was responsible…
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All too human: The mountain gorillas of Uganda
James L. Franklin Chicago, Illinois, United States Fig 1. Adult female mountain gorilla The Ugandan mountain gorilla is a member of the Hominidae family, also known as the great Apes. The extant species include: the orangutan, the eastern and western gorilla, the chimpanzee, the bonobo, and ourselves—Homo sapiens. The mountain gorilla is one…
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The paradox of blood donation
Beukou Steve Limbe, South-West Cameroon Team HERO Cameroon organizing 2nd annual blood drive 2019 (Source: NGO HERO CAMEROON) Team HERO Cameroon and voluntary blood donors during blood drive 2019 (Source: NGO HERO CAMEROON) Exchange visit at the National Blood Transfusion Service in Mauritius 2019 (Source: Association of Commonwealth University Summerschool 2019) “Please I urgently…
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Kokumo: the child will not die again
Odia Iyoha Lagos, Nigeria The Survivor, by Barrister Chikezie Onwumere, (December 2019). Personal Collection. It was 1838 in the ancient town of Ake, the era of the Abikus. The harmattan wind blew with reckless abandon, tinting everything living and non-living along its course. The leaves turned reddish brown from green, the roofs were caked…
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Blood donation in South Sudan
Ahmed Elhag Latham, New York, United States Red Cross in South Sudan. The item to the far right in the photograph is the country’s national instrument the “tombour” (an African lyre). The item to the left is a handcrafted piece of Sudanese art which contains calligraphy. Photograph by the author. When discussing the many…