Southern Africa cracks down on TB in mines

JOHANNESBURG, 25 March 2013 (IRIN) - South Africa's gold mines are estimated to have the highest number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world, making the disease a leading export to neighbouring countries. IRIN takes a look at the declaration meant to change this situation. full report

In Africa, corruption dirties the water

NAIROBI, 14 March 2013 (IRIN) - Collusion among government officials, unscrupulous water vendors and large farm owners results in diverted water supply lines, misappropriated funds, and failure to implement laws on protecting water sources from encroachment and pollution. These are just some of the ways corruption is denying millions of poor people in Africa access to safe and clean drinking water, experts say. full report

Maize smuggling creates hunger in Malawi

MZUZU, 1 March 2013 (IRIN) - Every morning, Bernadette Kilembe, from the northern Malawian town of Karonga, is confronted with two related problems: She has to keep her restaurant running, and she has to feed herself and her three children. full report

African migrants pay high prices to send money home

JOHANNESBURG, 27 February 2013 (IRIN) - New data from the World Bank has revealed that African migrants pay more to send money home to their families than any other migrant group in the world. full report

Malawi’s never-ending drug shortage problem

LILONGWE, 19 February 2013 (IRIN) - Malawi is again experiencing a crisis in the delivery of essential medicines, with understaffed clinics and erratic drug supplies preventing many dangerously ill patients from accessing treatment. full report

Growing demand for family planning in Malawi

BLANTYRE, 31 January 2013 (IRIN) - The waiting area of a clinic in northern Malawi’s Nkhata Bay resembles a kindergarten, with dozens of children running around or tugging on their mothers’ skirts. On average, each woman at the clinic has four small children with her. full report

Solving statelessness in Southern Africa

JOHANNESBURG, 30 January 2013 (IRIN) - Frederik Ngubane was born in South Africa to South African parents 22 years ago but, lacking any proof of his origins or nationality, he lives a shadowy, marginal existence. He cannot travel, study or secure formal employment and has lost count of how many times he has been arrested for being undocumented. full report

More ethanol could lighten Malawi's fuel bill

JOHANNESBURG, 25 January 2013 (IRIN) - As fuel prices climb in Malawi, amid fuel shortages and a soaring inflation rate - prompted by a 50 percent devaluation of the currency - a new paper suggests a way to decrease the country's reliance on imported fuel: biofuels. full report

Horn migrants use new, more dangerous, routes through Malawi

KARONGA, 21 January 2013 (IRIN) - On 20 June 2012, a group of undocumented Ethiopian migrants boarded a boat on the shores of Lake Malawi and headed southwards. A few minutes after departing, the overloaded boat sank, drowning 49 of its passengers. full report