Pasha - from The Conversation Africa artwork

Pasha - from The Conversation Africa

299 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 rating

Welcome to Pasha, The Conversation Africa’s brand new podcast. In the spirit of The Conversation, Pasha – which means to inform in Swahili – will be bringing you some of the best and brightest research from academics across the continent. After nearly four years of publishing expert research, we’re thrilled to be bringing our own brand of smart journalism to a new audio format. Each episode will collect stories and commentary on a given theme.

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Episodes

How the pandemic lockdown in South Africa affected mental health

August 18, 2022 08:15 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MB

shutterstock When SARS-CoV-2 emerged in South Africa, the country took measures to restrict people’s movements and activities, to slow the spread of infections. There were various levels of restrictions, the most severe being in place in March and April 2020. During this “hard lockdown”, many people in South Africa really struggled. Not only did they have financial difficulties but the lockdown took an emotional and mental toll. The common themes, no matter where people lived, were fee...

What's wrong with the Fourth Industrial Revolution

August 10, 2022 14:34 - 15 minutes - 14 MB

shutterstock The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” is a term coined in 2016 by German economist Klaus Schwab. It’s used to describe the technology revolution that the world is going through. But there is growing criticism, particularly in the global south, of how it’s framed. Many are questioning whether it should be considered a revolution at all. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to one view, is a very simplistic narrative that advances a distinct political agenda. It is a kind...

Tips for parents on keeping kids safe online

August 03, 2022 16:03 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MB

GettyImages Young children and adolescents are becoming hyper connected. They are using digital technologies as a platform for learning, connection and socialisation on a global scale. The COVID pandemic meant that kids were moving online for many of their daily activities and spending more time online. In South Africa, children generally access the internet at home much more frequently than at school, and most commonly using a smartphone. Their main online activity is use of social me...

Killer whales are hunting great white sharks in South Africa's waters

July 13, 2022 14:00 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MB

shutterstock Great white sharks have long been at the top of the food chain in parts of South Africa’s oceans. In their peak winter hunting months, around 100 great white sharks a day could be observed off the coast of the Western Cape province. But in 2017, great white shark carcasses began to wash up on beaches at Gansbaai, one of the main sites where the species usually gathered. Some were missing their livers. And the numbers of great white sharks in Gansbaai started to drop. In fact,...

Snare and shotgun injuries reveal more about threats to lions and leopards in Zambia

May 25, 2022 13:31 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MB

GettyImages Wildlife and people are coming into more and more conflict across Africa as human populations expand. Habitat loss and fragmentation of animal populations are causing declines in species. In Zambia, the Luangwa Valley and Kafue are two important wildlife areas. Both support populations of lion and leopard which are genetically linked to populations in neighbouring countries. They have great conservation value and are crucial for Zambia’s tourism industry too. It was here th...

Big infrastructure projects on the continent should work for everyone

May 15, 2022 07:16 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MB

GettyImages Big infrastructure projects should be based on the needs of people and communities. Often, they are criticised for benefiting the wealthy only. These projects reflect specific agendas of political and economic elites who are able to advance their interests through the developments. They interplay with existing inequalities and almost inevitably have highly uneven effects. An example is Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway, a massive infrastructure project that connects the port ...

Big development projects can have negative effects on nature and people

April 20, 2022 14:05 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MB

There are some major development projects in progress on the continent. They include the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya and irrigation and hydropower projects in Tanzania’s Rufiji Basin. Projects like these have potential to change people’s lives for good. But they also come with risks. Some big projects damage environments by disturbing the habitats of wildlife like lions and elephants. In Kenya the rail project has displaced these animals so that they come into conflict with people. Co...

Projects like Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway can unlock development

April 11, 2022 13:46 - 6 minutes - 6.29 MB

shutterstock Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway, which links Nairobi and Mombasa, East Africa’s largest port, was built to ease the pressure on the road network. Construction started in 2013 and was completed in 2017, with an extension in 2019. The line transports passengers as well as cargo. It makes the trip between the cities safer and shorter. The project is also being promoted as a means to develop Kenya’s mining, oil, gas, energy and commercial agriculture sectors as well as the wide...

When a hippo honks, here's what it could mean – to another hippo at least

March 01, 2022 15:04 - 9 minutes - 9.16 MB

shutterstock Hippos are very vocal animals, exchanging signals like the “wheeze honk”. But not much is known about what these sounds mean. Two researchers found themselves thinking about this in Mozambique – where they were initially studying crocodiles. Hippos are quite territorial and aggressive – and fast-moving. So the researchers kept a fair distance away as they conducted their experiment. They recorded hippo noises and played them back to the animals, watching to see how the hip...

Cities must listen to people to find solutions for climate impacts: stories from Cape Town

February 14, 2022 14:53 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MB

shutterstock A few years ago the South African city of Cape Town was close to reaching “day zero” – the day the taps would run dry as a result of a serious drought. Households had to restrict their water usage, water tariffs increased, and businesses had to rethink how they used water. But the situation affected people unequally. Households experienced it in different ways. The poor and vulnerable suffered the most. With the changing climate, problems like these aren’t going anywhere. Wa...

Technology for education has huge potential: partnerships can widen access

February 06, 2022 08:33 - 9 minutes - 9.11 MB

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal contact learning in education systems worldwide. Technology became an essential tool for learning and it has great potential beyond the pandemic. For one thing, it enables more interactivity than some old styles of teaching. But there are a number of barriers to using technology more widely in education. Users need data, a device and a learning management system. They need training in the skills to learn and teach online, and support for troubleshooti...

Lakes in the Democratic Republic of Congo are contested spaces. Here's why

January 16, 2022 07:20 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MB

Getty Images The lakes of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) play a big part in people’s lives – socially, politically and economically. But lake fishing communities find themselves at the intersection of geography, war and authority, as rebel groups and conservation managers also claim spaces and resources. By some estimates there are over 70 armed groups in the country, led by warlords, traditional tribal elders, village heads and politically motivated resistance fighte...

Understanding vaccine hesitancy in South Africa

December 14, 2021 14:29 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MB

shutterstock Vaccine hesitancy is the delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination, where vaccination services are available. It’s a diverse phenomenon: people may have different degrees of hesitancy, and may refuse some vaccines but agree to others. In 2019, the World Health Organization identified vaccine hesitancy as one of the 10 greatest threats to global health. It is very worrying because it poses significant risks not only to the hesitant individual but also to the wider communit...

Hyenas' unpicky feeding habits help clean up a town in Ethiopia

December 07, 2021 14:59 - 5 minutes - 5.2 MB

shutterstock Hyenas aren’t the most popular animals. Sometimes they kill people’s livestock. They are also thought of as scavengers, with some unappealing eating behaviour. Then there’s their cackling “laugh” and their physical looks, less graceful in some eyes than other large predators like lions or leopards. But there’s a more positive side to these often misunderstood creatures. In Mekelle, a town in northern Ethiopia, research has exposed and quantified the economic and health bene...

Soil isn't dirt: it's the foundation of life and needs real care

December 05, 2021 07:18 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MB

shutterstock Healthy soil is critical for life on earth. It can contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security. It is central to achieving sustainable development goals. It is the foundation of life on land. It provides many ecosystem services and helps achieve ecosystem restoration. The biggest challenge when it comes to soil is getting people to stop treating soil like dirt and start treating it with the respect it deserves. And this comes from soi...

What bush crickets are telling researchers via their unique calls

November 24, 2021 14:35 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MB

T thyraeus Bush crickets – or katydids, as they are also known – are fascinating creatures. They belong in the same order of insects as grasshoppers and crickets and are among the many species that communicate acoustically. Male bush crickets are prolific callers – and each species has its own call to advertise their fitness to females. They call in different frequency bands and for different lengths of time, so that they can make themselves heard to the right potential mate. In South...

Africa's forests have value for the whole world. All must pay for them

November 09, 2021 14:56 - 8 minutes - 8.15 MB

Shutterstock African forests are rich in biodiversity and provide a livelihood for more than 1 billion people. They store massive amounts of carbon and play a part in regulating climate. Forests are a global public good; they have value for the whole world. Yet they remain underfunded. Funding forests means funding people to manage them sustainably. And this does not come cheap. For many developing nations, the money is needed for other important things like education and he...

Benin bronzes: What is the significance of their repatriation to Nigeria?

November 08, 2021 15:09 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MB

GettyImages After years of pressure, western countries are finally returning priceless artefacts and artworks that had been looted from Nigeria during colonial times and were on display in foreign museums. Commonly called the Benin Bronzes, because the objects originated from the Kingdom of Benin (today’s Nigeria), these beautiful and technically remarkable artworks have come to symbolise the broader restitution debate. Two British universities – Cambridge University and the University...

Pasha 132: COVID South Africa: Top scientist on vaccine rollout lessons, and next steps

November 05, 2021 11:15 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MB

Shutterstock South Africa is several months into its COVID vaccination roll-out – a complex process with wide repercussions. It has recently extended the roll-out to adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years. But is this the best use of the available supply of vaccine doses? Our guest in this episode of Pasha is Shabir Madhi, dean of the faculty of health sciences and professor of vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is also director of the South Afri...

Pasha 131: The Ethiopian and Tigrayan conflict one year on

November 04, 2021 12:10 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MB

shutterstock The conflict between Ethiopia and its northern region of Tigray has been going on for a year. The power struggle has created many refugees and caused loss of life and hunger. It has also affected health, water and sanitation systems. The blockade inflicted by Ethiopia on Tigray means essential humanitarian supplies cannot reach civilians. This is a violation of international human rights and law, because whatever the disputes are between the different authorities, wars hav...

Pasha 130: The Ethiopia and Tigray conflict is worsening hunger in the region

November 04, 2021 12:10 - 10 minutes - 9.46 MB

shutterstock Ethiopia and its northern region of Tigray have been in conflict for about a year now. The political power struggle that had been going on for decades escalated a year ago when Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive. The conflict is putting hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray at risk of starvation and famine. Tigray is a dry place but farmers have long known how to manage the lands for production. The blockade on Tigray by the Ethiopian gover...

Pasha 129: Africa's climate concerns and the way forward

October 26, 2021 14:40 - 9 minutes - 9.18 MB

GettyImages Many African countries are under significant stress from climate change. Increasing emissions of greenhouse gases are putting the world on a path towards unacceptable warming and this has particularly serious implications for the continent. The projected changes in climate are likely to have devastating impacts on agriculture and food security, human health and water supplies. Greenhouse gases are the main cause of climate change. Human activities such as mining for fossil ...

Pasha 128: Why Rwanda is involved in Mozambique's security

October 20, 2021 13:53 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MB

GettyImages Islamic militias in the northern part of Mozambique, the province of Cabo Delgado, have mounted an armed insurgency against the Mozambican government since 2017. The conflict appears to tap into anger about the region’s chronic poverty, unemployment and weak public services under the Frelimo-led government in Maputo. Read more: How big is the Islamist threat in Mozambique? And why are Rwandan troops there? More than 3,000 civilians have been killed, 800,000 peop...

Pasha 127: Allergies vs rooibos: can this South African plant help sufferers?

October 14, 2021 14:36 - 9 minutes - 8.9 MB

Shutterstock Nasal allergy is a common problem in South Africa. It is estimated that 20% to 30% of adults in South Africa suffer with allergic rhinitis or hay fever. House dust mites and tree pollen are the most common reasons for this. Often, people have to rely on allergy medication to deal with the problem. But new research is under way to see if a plant native to South Africa can help. Rooibos, scientifically known as Aspalathus linearis, is being explored as a treatment...

Pasha 126: Four factors that make a graduate more employable

October 03, 2021 08:31 - 12 minutes - 11.2 MB

shutterstock South Africa has an extremely high unemployment rate. A qualification from a tertiary institution usually means the chances of landing a job are higher. Research shows that within five years of graduating, 84% of the graduates were working. But it’s not a guarantee. Graduates, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, remain jobless. Nevertheless there are certain aspects that make a graduate more employable than others. Our guest in today’s episode of Pasha is Fenella So...

Pasha 125: Nigeria can regain its lost athletics glory. Here's how

September 15, 2021 14:03 - 10 minutes - 9.86 MB

GettyImages Nigeria used to be a great force in global athletics but that has changed. The country’s fortunes have plummeted in track and field events. The downward trend continued in the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, where Nigeria won only two medals: bronze in long jump and silver in wrestling. Oladele Oladipo, a professor of sports and exercise physiology at the University of Ibadan, offers insight into what has gone wrong and what Nigeria should do to regain its former competit...

Pasha 124: How Nairobi's informal settlements got their names

September 12, 2021 08:19 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MB

Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, started as a railway depot in 1899 and developed into a colonial administration centre, then into a commercial and regional hub. Informal settlements in the city grew in parallel, arising from colonial policies that excluded local people from permanent residence, and driven by demand for housing. The names of these informal settlements – and the names of places within them – capture their history and act as a voice for their residents. Place names tell us...

Pasha 123: Conversations with the Editor: The IMF's special drawing rights

September 01, 2021 14:41 - 10 minutes - 9.85 MB

shutterstock The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to inject $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights into the global economy. Because of the way the quotas for member states work, about 60% of these funds will go to rich countries that do not need them. African countries will receive $33.6 billion. Most of this will go to the five largest economies on the continent – South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt. The IMF and many countries recognise that this way of sharing the fun...

Pasha 122: How video analysis benefits rugby

August 30, 2021 13:21 - 7 minutes - 7 MB

GettyImages A recent rugby series between South Africa and the British and Irish Lions, a tour that takes place every 12 years, was the subject of controversy. One of the reasons the tour made headlines was that the South African rugby director, Rassie Erasmus, released a video in which he challenged decisions made by the referee that went against his team. (South Africa won the series by 2-1.) The video is quite unusual, as criticism of referees is not common in world rugby. It went vira...

Pasha 121: Why we need mosquitoes

August 19, 2021 14:35 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MB

shutterstock The dreaded mosquito is an insect with a bad reputation. They bite, keep you up at night and spread deadly diseases like dengue and malaria. There are many calls for their eradication. But they are a diverse group. Only a small fraction of the 3,000 species of mosquitoes feed on humans. An even smaller fraction of those transmit diseases. They are an important part of many ecosystems. Some feed on nectar and pollinate plants; some feed on other mosquitoes. Some ...

Pasha 120: Botanical gardens: why we need them and how they can also pose a risk

August 18, 2021 14:58 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MB

shutterstock The team behind our podcast, Pasha, has started a series called “Why We Need” and this first episode is about why we need botanical gardens. Botanical gardens are dedicated to the collection, cultivation, preservation and display of plants. Around the world, they contain 30%-40% of the known plant species. Not only do they maintain documented collections of plants, these institutions carry out research and contribute to education and conservation. So they’re really valuable ...

Pasha 119: Talking about Africa and the Olympics

August 06, 2021 14:49 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MB

GettyImages It’s safe to say that the 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo this year was an unconventional event. The impact the pandemic had on the athletes has been complex and felt differently across countries and individuals. So how did African athletes fare in these difficult conditions? Overall, not too well on the medals chart. There were some impressive performances but the Olympics did not yield many moments for participants from African countries to savour. In today’s episode o...

Pasha 118: Herd immunity isn't achievable. We need to learn to live with COVID-19

August 02, 2021 15:14 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MB

shutterstock In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic the phrase “herd immunity” was bandied about a lot by heads of state as well as health officials. This ideal end state was described as the moment when the virus had been beaten, and everyone could return to a normal life. But a great deal has changed in the intervening months. Firstly, the virus has mutated in ways that make it spread more quickly, and in ways that make it potentially more resistant. In addition, the unequal dis...

Pasha 117: What drove South Africa's recent violence and looting and what to do about it

July 20, 2021 14:42 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MB

GettyImages After former president Jacob Zuma was recently arrested for contempt of court, South Africa went into disarray. Widespread looting, vandalism and violence broke out. Two provinces – Gauteng, the country’s economic hub, and KwaZulu-Natal, on the east coast – bore the brunt of this. What was initially premised on Zuma’s arrest transpired into something much more coordinated, controlled and dangerous. Many reasons for the violence have been noted. These include: the frustrati...

Pasha 116: Why events like Eid celebrations can be superspreaders

July 19, 2021 15:10 - 14 minutes - 13 MB

Getty Images One of the elements that contribute to a rise in COVID-19 infections is gatherings. Ramadan (the month when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset) and Eid (the celebration after the month) are times when gatherings appear to have contributed to the deaths of many in the Muslim community. Research has found that Muslims make up around 2% of South Africa’s population, yet account for 5% of the total COVID deaths so far. A similar trend was seen in Indonesia, which ...

Pasha 115: Five ideas about why so many top African officials have died of COVID-19

July 15, 2021 13:50 - 7 minutes - 6.95 MB

GettyImages Seventeen African leaders – national ministers and heads of state – had lost their lives to COVID-19 by February 2021. The continent is made up of 54 countries, so there’s a high number of leaders, but the number of deaths is out of proportion compared with other continents (where the global total is five). In some cases, the deaths of leaders meant a shift in policy. This was notable in Tanzania and Burundi, which initially had strong COVID-19 denial in their policies. Now ...

Pasha 114: Lessons from COVID-19 for other global crises

July 08, 2021 14:56 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MB

shutterstock Disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic provide the world with a learning opportunity. It is important that global events like this are used to invoke change for a better world. The pandemic was coming; there have been near misses in this century alone, like SARS, avian influenza and Ebola. But the world hasn’t learnt from them. Governments and citizens must take up the challenge to make real change for a better future. It’s not only pandemics that are the problem. The world fa...

Pasha 113: COVID-19, the Delta variant and South Africa's vaccination problems

July 01, 2021 15:12 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MB

GettyImages The Delta variant of SARS-COV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – is spreading across South Africa, sparking a strong resurgence of infections. The president has placed the country under stricter regulations in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. Gauteng province, the country’s economic hub, where 25% of the population live, is the epicentre. It’s likely many more people will be hospitalised in the coming weeks and some will die. Severe disease usually lags behind inf...

Pasha 112: The struggles of women doing stand-up in Zimbabwe

June 23, 2021 14:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MB

file s y Being a comedian in Zimbabwe is no easy profession, particularly if you’re a woman. The problems women face range from violence – for example, Samantha Kureya, known on stage as Gonyeti, was abducted and tortured by masked gunmen – through to attitudes that frown on women taking to the stage. But Zimbabwe’s women stand-up comedians are fighting the patriarchy. Munya Guramatunhu and Sharon Chideu are taking on the stand-up comedy scene with jokes about men, sex and motherhood. ...

Pasha 111: Why it's important to improve Africa's research output

June 20, 2021 07:42 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MB

shutterstock Peacebuilding Research output across the African continent is really low. Many institutions that produce research are severely underdeveloped and underfunded. Many also have a major focus on undergraduate degrees and enrolments. This drive for an undergraduate degree has means that postgraduate education and research is falling short. Improving research on the continent requires a massive shift. But to get this right means investing more in universities and in research cen...

Pasha 110: Johannesburg's romantic comedy revolution reimagines the city

June 09, 2021 15:09 - 9 minutes - 8.92 MB

The African romantic comedy genre is part of a trend in the cinema of the global South, projecting images of the “global city”. In South Africa, most black romcoms are set in Johannesburg and they too portray it as a glamorous setting for affluent lifestyles and aspirations. But in their storylines and images the films also remind audiences of the city’s real social conflicts and socioeconomic inequalities. They are not simply a celebration of consumerist lifestyles. In today’s episode of...

Pasha 109: Ecology research has a huge gap: the work of women and the global South

June 02, 2021 15:10 - 9 minutes - 9.14 MB

shutterstock Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and the environment around them. It is an important branch of study, exploring how animals, plants, the land, climate and humans are interconnected. But a study of 13 leading journals in ecology over 75 years has shown that in this field, women researchers are seriously under-represented. So are countries in the global South – even those with excellent scientists. Kenya and South Africa were...

Pasha 108: Some good news in the fight against hepatitis C in Africa

May 26, 2021 18:08 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MB

shutterstock Globally, there are around 71 million people with hepatitis C. In Africa, more than 10 million people are infected with the virus. The new oral therapies that have been developed to treat hepatitis C are much more effective and easier to take than the previous injections, and have fewer side effects. In high-income countries, these drugs are known to work well. But the number of strains of the virus is limited in those countries. So it wasn’t known how useful the new drugs ...

Pasha 107: Exploring the use of the moringa plant in South Africa

May 12, 2021 14:54 - 6 minutes - 5.76 MB

shutterstock Moringa is a plant that offers many benefits. It is full of vitamins and other nutrients. It is also believed to have other pharmacological properties. Aside from food, parts of the moringa can be used for firewood, fencing, water purification and fertiliser. Moringa is also a drought tolerant and resistant crop. Cultivation has been rising in South Africa since it was introduced in 2006, but it has yet to reach its full potential. Moringa is an affordable alternative crop ...

Pasha 106: COVID-19 is increasing inequality in South Africa

May 05, 2021 13:40 - 9 minutes - 8.54 MB

Shutterstock Unemployment, poverty and hunger were issues South Africa knew all too well even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has made them worse. Job losses have increased and unemployment has not been offset by a massive government economic stimulus package and wage compensation scheme. But the COVID-19 impact has been unequal for the most part. The worst affected sectors of the economy, like tourism and hospitality, tend to employ relatively low-skilled workers....

Pasha 105: Two academics weigh in on Botswana allowing elephant hunting

April 28, 2021 14:58 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MB

shutterstock Botswana recently offered the rights to shoot around 300 elephants. There have been mixed feelings about this decision. Some say licensed hunting is ecologically necessary. They also say rural communities need revenue from hunting and are at risk of human-wildlife conflict. Others have criticised it heavily, disputing the claim that hunting is a solution to various problems and pointing to its negative consequences. Botswana is home to about one third of Africa’s elephant...

Pasha 104: The fascinating history of the Suez Canal

April 21, 2021 13:50 - 9 minutes - 8.48 MB

shutterstock The Suez Canal was in the spotlight recently when the container vessel Ever Given became wedged diagonally across it, causing a massive backlog in shipping traffic. The idea of a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean was a dream for many throughout history. The Egyptian Pharoahs, Persians, Romans and Ottomans all saw its potential benefits. The canal offers the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia, making it useful for trade. Eventually a French diplomat, ...

Pasha 103: Insights from female breadwinners in South Africa

April 13, 2021 14:39 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MB

shutterstock In South Africa, about 6 million households have women as the breadwinners – about 38% of all homes. Many of these women don’t choose to be the primary financial provider but are forced into it by circumstances. And they are over-represented in the poorest paying and most unregulated sectors of the economy, such as service industries, domestic work and informal work. They also earn less than their male counterparts. In today’s episode of Pasha, Bianca Parry, a postdoctoral f...

Pasha 102: Talking about malaria risk zones and climate change in South Africa

March 25, 2021 14:34 - 7 minutes - 7.19 MB

shutterstock Malaria kills over 400,000 people a year across the world. Africa carries the highest burden, with 90% of these deaths occurring on the continent. In South Africa, close to 5 million people are at risk of contracting the disease. Malaria is mainly transmitted along the northern border areas of the country. Mapping malaria risk zones is therefore key to managing the spread. But changing weather patterns have affected the zones. In this episode of Pasha, Jennifer Fitchett, a...

Pasha 101: Two researchers unpack extreme temperatures in South Africa

March 18, 2021 15:46 - 8 minutes - 7.53 MB

shutterstock Extreme heat and extreme cold can both have an impact on human health. With a changing climate, these events are set to occur more often. They are also becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Extreme heat stress can result in heatstroke and can affect people’s cardiovascular health. There are significant health concerns related to extreme heat events, particularly when people aren’t prepared for them. Extreme cold temperatures present a different set of challenges. For ...

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