Three claims about cancer in Nigeria
Source: Vice president Yemi Osinbajo (January 2020)
One correct, one mostly correct, one incorrect
This year, Africa Check’s Nigeria office seemed to face more false claims than there are hours in the day. And the most worrying of these were about health.
11 claims about Nigeria’s 'mental health problem'
Source: News organisation Al Jazeera (10 October 2019)
Three correct or mostly correct, one misleading, two unproven, five incorrect
If you sit more than 11 hours a day, there’s a 50% chance you’ll die within the next 3 years.
Source: Facebook page ‘Medical Talk’ (August 2019)
No study has estimated the risk of high sitting time at 50% within the next three years.
Don’t touch soya foods as they’re very bad for breast cancer.
Source: Viral 2016 TV interview with Kenyan senator and cancer survivor Beth Mugo
Soya foods are healthy and could prevent cancer
Malaria kills an average of 300,000 people yearly in Nigeria.
Source: WellaHealth insurance service (August 2019)
WHO data puts Nigeria’s 2017 malaria death toll at 81,640.
Nearly half of all child deaths in Africa stem from hunger
Source: African Child Policy Forum (2019)
The study offered as evidence for this claim did estimate that 45% of all deaths in under-5 children were due to undernutrition. However, a calculation for Africa has not been done.
In Kenya, 49% of new HIV infections occur among adolescents.
Source: Johnson & Johnson tweet (5 June 2019)
New HIV infections in adolescents accounted for 16%, not 49% of the national total
One in four South African employees have been diagnosed with depression.
Source: Fin24
Study cannot be generalised to the South African workforce as a whole
Two claims on Nigeria’s sucide ranking
Source: The Vanguard (June 2019)
One correct, one incorrect