Women in Uganda are leading climate change adaptation →

March 01, 2016 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

Farming is easily the most common occupation in this East African country. Much of it is small scale – scratching out just enough cassava, beans or maize to get by. And the vast majority of the people doing it are women – 80 percent according to some estimates. That means they are also the ones suffering most from the effects of climate change, whose impacts – changing weather patterns, intermittent floods and droughts and devastating landslides – can wipe out entire harvests and put families on the brink of starvation. Read more.

Ugandan president's victory disputed by opposition →

February 20, 2016 by Andrew Green in The Washington Post

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, one of the most prominent U.S. allies in East Africa, routed his opponents in the country’s presidential election, but Thursday’s vote was dogged by international criticism and concerns about the repeated detention of the main opposition leader. Read more.

Kenya tries to stifle any criticism of its fight against al-Shabab →

February 19, 2016 by Andrew Green in World Politics Review

With a devastating attack last month on an army base in southwestern Somalia housing Kenyan soldiers, the militant group al-Shabab once again signaled its strength, despite the years-long regional effort to wipe it out. Dozens of Kenyan soldiers were slaughtered in the assault, which raised questions about Nairobi’s role in the ongoing campaign against the Islamic extremists. But Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta insists his government is committed to vanquishing al-Shabab—even as it does everything it can to silence any domestic debate over Kenya’s continued involvement in that effort. Read more.

Top opposition candidate briefly detained as Ugandans go to the polls →

February 18, 2016 by Andrew Green in The Washington Post

Police arrested Uganda’s leading opposition presidential candidate Thursday, just as results started to trickle in from an election that focused on whether the country’s ruler would extend his 30-year grip on power. Read more.

A real debate before Uganda's fake election →

February 17, 2016 by Andrew Green in Foreign Policy

Museveni’s unexpected appearance at a presidential debate over the weekend, just days before Ugandans head to the polls on Feb. 18, came as a shock to the country’s political chattering class. Up until the moment he appeared on stage, journalists and pundits were predicting he’d skip the event — just as he had the inaugural debate in January, which he dismissed as an activity fit for “school children.” Though he has been in power for 30 years, Uganda’s cagy president rarely opens himself up to public interrogation — especially by his political rivals.

Yet there he was on stage, linking hands with his challengers in prayer and then, for more than three hours, withstanding polite questioning from the moderators and far less polite jabs from the men and women who wish to replace him.

Uganda discovered the Zika virus — and the solution for it →

February 10, 2016 by Andrew Green in Foreign Policy

It’s the Zika virus — which has infected tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people in the Americas in recent months and may be linked to a spate of children born with underdeveloped brains in Brazil — that’s now bringing Ugandan epidemiologists unexpected attention. Uganda Virus Research Institute scientists first discovered Zika in the blood of a rhesus monkey back in 1947. And while Uganda has never had an outbreak of the virus, the country’s unique approach to monitoring the spread of similar diseases could hold the key to stopping future epidemics in their tracks.

The thorny ethics of embedding with do-gooders →

February 08, 2016 by Andrew Green in CJR

The shuttering of foreign bureaus has given freelancers a bigger role in covering international news, but when it comes to negotiating ethical gray areas like this, they are largely on their own. And though these relationships with NGOs and the UN are often restrictive, they are also potentially profitable and entirely necessary to safely and affordably report important stories. By working closely with these organizations, journalists may cede too much control to the humanitarian community. But if they refuse any humanitarian support, vital stories will go untold.

Uganda's election worries Museveni camp more than it will admit →

February 03, 2016 by Andrew Green in World Politics Review

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is treating his country’s election later this month as a coronation, not a contest, happy to cultivate the impression that the five-year extension to his already 30-year rule is all but a done deal. But the arrest this past weekend of a prominent general turned regime critic is the latest sign that Museveni’s camp is more worried about the vote—and its aftermath—than they are letting on. Read more.

HIV in Mozambique: Starting and staying on treatment →

January 29, 2016 by Andrew Green in The Lancet

Mozambique has set ambitious targets for getting more people with HIV on treatment, and it is testing innovative ways to help them stay on the life-saving drugs. Read more.

Will Nigeria's new government fix the health system →

January 09, 2016 by Andrew Green in The Lancet

Nigeria's health system has not received the attention or finances it needs to address the country's disease burdens. Will the new government address the problems? Read more.

Looking for new funding models to address an ancient problem →

January 07, 2016 by Andrew Green in Devex

The global tuberculosis response has consistently suffered funding shortages, which contributed to the disease surpassing AIDS in 2014 as the world’s leading infectious killer. Now — in a bid to end the pandemic by 2035 — a new strategy is looking to alternative funding sources and new spending models that will help officials better take advantage of the available resources. Read more.

The growing burden of NCDs in Nigeria →

January 01, 2016 by Andrew Green in The Lancet

While Nigeria's health system focuses on combating infectious diseases, a growing tide of non-communicable diseases in the burgeoning middle class threatens to eliminate health gains. Why isn't this issue being tackled? Read more.

Quest for tuberculosis vaccine begins as scientists aim to beat disease by 2035 →

December 07, 2015 by Andrew Green in The Guardian

When her son Luluto was born 16 years ago, Yoliswa Qaku was eager to have him vaccinated against tuberculosis. Once he received the injection, she thought, he would be safe from the disease for the rest of his life. She learned earlier this year that this was never the case.

PEPFAR strategy shift aims to get ahead of Mozambique epidemic →

November 23, 2015 by Andrew Green in Devex

Mozambique is at the outset of recalibrating its HIV response, following a global shift in approach by one of the primary donors to the country’s AIDS response — the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Read more.

Mozambique struggles to contain HIV epidemic among young women →

November 22, 2015 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

At their first meeting, the group of 30 young women just eyed Nousa Winica warily. When she asked a question, they hurriedly dropped their gaze. It would be, she quickly realized, a struggle to earn their trust.

Winica spent the first few of their weekly gatherings sticking to light subjects – what chores they did, their favorite classes, even the weather – just to make the girls, pooled from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, comfortable sharing with her and with each other. Eventually, she started peppering the conversation with questions about HIV. What did they know about the disease? Could they explain how it was spread? What steps could they take to avoid getting infected?

After weeks of dragging answers out of them to the most banal questions, she was shocked at their interest in the topic. “They receive it with some kind of happiness,” she said. “Most of them have someone at home in the family who is sick. They have some questions about the disease.”