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Tag: children

unproven

Does 1 in 5 South African kids miss breakfast, as an ad said?

Photo: Ryan Pouncy on Unsplash

Emphasising the importance of a healthy breakfast, a margarine brand claimed that one in five South African children doesn’t eat one.

07:50 | 27th July 2017 (GMT)

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  • children
  • health
downplayed

Are fewer than 6,000 babies born HIV+ every year in SA, as Zuma said?

A mother gets antiretroviral drugs at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto in May 2012. Photo: AFP/ALEXANDER JOE

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma highlighted the success of his administration’s HIV policies in parliament recently. Does official data back up his claim that fewer than 6,000 babies are born HIV+ every year?

08:14 | 14th June 2017 (GMT)

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  • children
  • health
  • HIV/AIDS
checked

Can marijuana cure measles? No evidence for Kenyan claim

Children as young as 2 in Kenya are having marijuana blown into their faces and ears as a supposed cure for measles. Does it work? Africa Check cleared the smoke.

07:43 | 8th June 2017 (GMT)

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  • children
  • drugs
  • health
incorrect

Levels of child sexual abuse in South Africa even higher than activist claimed

Children sing at the launch of Child Protection Week 2017 in Langa, Cape Town. Photo: Kopano Tlape/GCIS

A South African activist said in radio interview that a quarter of girls and 17% of boys would be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. This turned out to be an underestimate.

07:15 | 1st June 2017 (GMT)

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  • children
  • crime
  • sexual violence

Blog post: My top 3 for 2016: Activist ‘facts’, press freedom truths & a complex Clinton claim

Great fact-checks puncture myths with rigour, but also in a way that reshapes the public debate by focusing on the true scale of a particular issue, argues our head of health and information service, Vinayak Bhardwaj. He presents his three “favourites” from 2016.

09:00 | 21st November 2016 (GMT)

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  • children
  • health
  • HIV/AIDS
checked

Chill, Mzansi – the boy’s name is Jake Amo and he’s from Ghana

A picture of little Jake Amo drawing in his Ghanaian classroom has flooded the internet as a meme. Not everyone is amused, though.

07:30 | 26th October 2016 (GMT)

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  • children
incorrect

Statistic that a child goes missing every 5 hours in SA incorrect

Children play on top of a tree trunk in the Umlazi district of Durban in August 2016. Photo: Marco Longari/AFP

A much circulated statistic claims that a child goes missing every 5 hours in South Africa but it is based on outdated data.

07:33 | 12th October 2016 (GMT)

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  • children
  • crime
  • reader suggestion
  • South African Police Service
unproven

No data shows 1 in 10 African girls miss school because of menstruation

Two young Maasai girls arrive back from school in September 2011. Photo: AFP/Tony Karumba

A number of small studies have been conducted in African countries on the effect of menstruation on girls’ school attendance. But the situation across the continent remains unknown.

03:11 | 26th September 2016 (GMT)

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  • children
  • development
  • education
  • health
  • women
incorrect

Number of HIV+ babies born in SA less than half UK Guardian’s figure

An old figure quoted by the UK’s Guardian newspaper overstates the share of HIV+ mothers transmitting the virus to their babies in South Africa.

06:00 | 6th September 2016 (GMT)

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  • children
  • health
  • HIV/AIDS
  • women

Does an African child die from malaria every 30 seconds?

Children run with advertising banners for the fight against malaria during a ceremony held ahead of the 2013 African Cup of Nations final football match Nigeria vs Burkina Faso, on February 10, 2013 in Johannesburg. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE / AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE

Earlier this year a science news website claimed that an African child dies of malaria every 30 seconds. But the latest and best estimate shows that it is just under every two minutes.

05:27 | 21st April 2016 (GMT)

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  • children
  • health
  • malaria
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