Obstetric fistula is a major health problem, and a difficult topic to write about. This month brought both joy and tremendous sorrow for those of us hoping to impact health coverage and improve lives here in Mozambique.
How, and where, do I start explaining what Winstone Zulu meant for Africans living with HIV? How do I tell the story of this Zambian activist who turned a death sentence into a rich life for him, his family and millions of other Africans?
Photo of Winstone Zulu, taken recently at Hope House, Kara Counselling, in Lusaka, where he died, in the same room where he lived for a while, 20 years ago, when he went public about being HIV-positive. (Photo by Antigone Barton)
Winston, shown here, shaped Africa’s response to AIDS in many ways, from startling Zambia in 1992 as the first person to say publicly he was HIV-positive to 20 years of protest, critique, deadly mistakes and fresh thinking. (Photo by Antigone Barton)
Knight Health Journalism Fellow Declan Okpalaeke is an award-winning health and environmental journalist who is leading the effort to launch a Pan-African health journalists’ organization. The new continent-wide organization will offer training, resources, networking opportunities and assistance for cross-border reporting.
In the first part of his fellowship, Okpalaeke launched a four-page, weekly health section at This Day, one of Nigeria’s most popular newspapers.
In Nigeria, a country with staggering rates of preventable diseases, Declan Okpalaeke is creating a newspaper and online health section to hold Nigerian officials accountable for improving policies.
Knight Felllow Brenda Wilson is launching multimedia health programs in Johannesburg, South Africa, reaching a young, tech-savvy population that is particularly vulnerable to illness.
