Long Form

Inside the 'dead zone': In an outdoor laboratory at Texas' Sam Houston State University

Afraid of death? Take comfort that you’ll live on in varied and surprising ways

Most of us would rather not know what happens to our bodies after death. But that breakdown gives birth to new life in unexpected ways.
Loud and clear: A billboard in Lilongwe

Malawi to halt prosecutions against LGBTI community

Malawi says it will no longer enforce anti-homosexuality laws but dangerous homophobia persists on the country's streets - and in its clinics.
High-priced technology puts a price tag on life.

This disposable piece of technology might save your life – if you can afford...

Many diabetics are dependent on expensive blood sugar testing strips to stay alive. Most in South Africa can't afford it.
Stolen: These girls

Boko Haram: ‘Deradicalisation’ is the only hope for the stolen when they’re ‘free’

Could psychosocial programmes turn extremists into moderates?
Rachel Daniel

‘I was married to a Boko Haram’: What happens when a victim returns to...

Eighty two of the Chibok school girls, kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria three years ago, have been released. But what now?
Period tax: Although funding has allowed for the first round of free pad deliveries in KwaZulu-Natal

#FreeToBleed: Here’s why Mboweni’s announcement of free & tax-free pads matters

Choosing between eating & bleeding through your uniform has a cost. Take a look at the reality behind the budget in this one from our archives.
Daniel Omar

3D-printed prosthetic limbs: The next revolution in medicine

The process could transform manufacturing and help the 30 million people worldwide in need of artificial limbs and braces.
'I could have died': Buhle Bhengu was duped into having an illegal abortion.

‘It didn’t take long for [the fetus] to come out. There was a human-like...

Left with little choice, many women turn to illegal abortionists to terminate their pregnancies.
Do big solutions come in small packages? Questions remain as to how practical baby boxes would be for South African parents and babies.

Could this birth trend make for more serene deliveries?

Water births are a growing phenomenon in South Africa and globally. But this birth method is controversial – scientific evidence is lacking.
Of the new refugees from South Sudan

Walk in the footsteps of South Sudan’s lost children

Refugee resettlement camps offer a safer space for South Sudanese children, who make up 64% of all refugees in Uganda.
South Sudanese refugee children in northern Uganda

Could this country be among the world’s best for refugees?

Many Ugandans were once refugees themselves. Now, they are 'paying back the good' and making their country one of the best in the world for refugees.
In 2013 the psychology’s bible

When the sorrow doesn’t end: Could chronic grief be a medical condition?

The pain of bereavement is supposed to ease with time. When it doesn't, psychiatrists call it 'complicated grief' and it can be treated.
During the Ebola outbreak hospitals were seen as dumping grounds for the dying

Africa’s oldest psychiatric hospital a stark reminder of war and a forgotten people

After Sierra Leone’s civil war, money poured in for mental health services. But a decade later, there's little left to help Ebola’s victims.
It's not only women who prefer Caesarean sections

Caesarean vs vaginal birth: A mother’s choice, not her doctor’s

C-sections may result in fewer lawsuits, but they are not always the best option.
Malawi's women suffer in silence as the country continues to outlaw abortions but change may be on the horizon.

Will rape survivors finally be able to have legal abortions?

Unsafe terminations in Malawi may be curbed after a new law is enacted, but it’s just the first step
Some lower functioning Care Haven Psychiatric Centre residents are guided through drawing and reading with a staff member as part of a daily programme to keep them active

The promise and peril of ditching South Africa’s psychiatric hospitals

Community mental health care can be better for patients and health systems if it's done right. Find out how one organisation is making it work.