Facts in Q&A format

The World Health Organization groups member states into six regions. As of 30 May 2022, the Region of the Americas had recorded the largest number of deaths at 2,740,558. There were 2,010,805 deaths in the European Region, 788,493 deaths in the South East-Asia Region, 342,784 deaths in the Easter...

Niger has the world’s youngest population. Half of Niger’s population is 14 or younger, and the median age is 15. ...

The Delta or B.1.617.2 variant of SARS CoV-2 (previously known as the “Indian variant”)was first detected in India in December 2020 and became the most commonly reported variant in the country from mid-April 2021. The mutations in the Delta variant’s spike protein help the virus to bette...

Although it is still too early to know, there is some evidence suggesting that the Delta variant reduces vaccine efficacy. Data from cases in England showed that the effectiveness of both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines had been lowered after one dose from 51.1% to 33.5%. But after a second shot...

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has said more research is needed before it could approve ivermectin for use in humans. “To date there is insufficient evidence for or against the use of ivermectin in the prevention or treatment of COVID-19,” SAHPRAsaid in a 2...

Ebola virus disease is a deadly disease that affects mostly people and non-human primates such as monkeys and chimpanzees, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains. Symptoms include fever, diarrhoea, body aches and “unexplained bleeding”. According to the World Health Org...

Cervical cancer develops in the cervix, which “attaches the uterus to the vagina”. The World Health Organization says cervical cancer is almost always linked to sexually transmitted human papillomaviruses (HPV). The fear that HPV vaccines could cause infertility has been linked to the low sha...

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, there is “no commonly agreed definition of what constitutes ‘femicide’”. It has historically been defined as the killing of women and girls because they are female. Collecting data on the motive for a killing can be difficult. Because o...

Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina has claimed that a herbal tonic, made from the artemisia plant, could cure Covid-19. The beverage, Covid Organics, was reportedly tested on fewer than 20 patients. In April, the National Academy of Medicine of Madagascar warned against the use of the tonic based...