Alarmist reporting on COVID-19 will only heighten people's anxieties and drive vaccine hesitancy
May 23, 2021 03:32 am UTC| Health
From an ethics perspective, it has been a bad couple of weeks for media coverage of COVID-19. First, there was a highly questionable story in The Australian about China allegedly weaponising coronavirus, with the...
COVID vaccines: the danger of journals being seen as substitute regulators
May 20, 2021 02:37 am UTC| Health
A superficial reading of the history of vaccination might lead you to believe that it is simple. Dried smallpox pustules had been used for 1,000 years to inoculate people against smallpox before the first successful...
Who was better at predicting the course of the pandemic – experts or the public?
May 16, 2021 12:23 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health
Early on in the pandemic, it seemed as if the media was asking anyone with potentially relevant expertise scientists, doctors, statisticians to tell us what was coming. These individuals were frequently asked to give...
3 reasons for making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for children
May 16, 2021 11:17 am UTC| Health
On May 5, Health Canada approved a COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged 12-15 years. The United States Food and Drug Administration quickly followed suit, and other countries are likely to do the same. Similar...
South Africa must ban sugary drinks sales in schools. Self regulation is failing
May 16, 2021 10:02 am UTC| Health Law
In 2017, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa voluntarily announced that it would stop supplying sugary beverages to primary school outlets. The company also pledged to remove all branding and advertising from schools. The...
Gambling: a sure bet? The global challenges facing young people
May 09, 2021 10:03 am UTC| Health
The global growth of gambling has led to tensions about what role it can and should play in our societies. In Kenya, the rise of online sports betting highlights broader social issues with disillusioned youth using it as...
May 09, 2021 09:10 am UTC| Health
The ABCs latest Four Corners report is an investigation into how videogames are deliberately designed to get people hooked. It describes the use of gambling-like loot boxes in games, the hotly debated notion of...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight