https://en.sputniknews.africa/20260817/healing-ink-how-3d-printed-skin-scaffolds-is-improving-wound-care-in-africa--1088397868.html
Healing Ink: How 3D-printed Skin Scaffolds is Improving Wound Care in Africa
Healing Ink: How 3D-printed Skin Scaffolds is Improving Wound Care in Africa
Sputnik Africa
Chronic wounds push millions into pain, poverty, and amputation, placing a staggering burden on families and health systems across Africa. But what if the... 17.08.2026, Sputnik Africa
2026-08-17T16:37+0200
2026-08-17T16:37+0200
2026-08-17T16:37+0200
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Healing Ink: How 3D-printed Skin Scaffolds is Improving Wound Care in Africa
Sputnik Africa
Chronic wounds push millions into pain, poverty, and amputation, placing a staggering burden on families and health systems across Africa. But what if the solution could be printed, layer by layer, using materials rooted in African soil? This episode unpacks a quiet revolution in wound care, and the future of African innovation in medicine.
A diabetic ulcer that refuses to close. A burn that turns fatal because donor skin is nowhere to be found—these are not rare tragedies—they are daily realities in clinics and homes across Africa. Chronic wounds drain family savings, rob breadwinners of their livelihoods, and too often end in amputation or death. However, a homegrown invention is tackling this challenge head on. Pan-African Frequency spoke to Dr. Hafiza Parkar, a lecturer and pharmacologist from the University of Pretoria, who is developing 3D-printed skin scaffolds designed to transform wound care on the continent. She discussed how her innovation is revolutionizing wound treatment, strengthening regenerative medicine as well as how the continent can build on its scientific breakthroughs to create more accessible, innovative, and locally driven healthcare systems.To listen to the whole discussion, tune in to the Pan-African Frequency podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.Discover more insights from our outstanding guests on the Pan-African Frequency podcast, proudly brought to you by Sputnik Africa.In addition to the website, you can also catch our episodes on Telegram.► You can also listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Pocket Casts, Afripods, and Podcast Addict► Check out all the episodes of Pan-African Frequency
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Healing Ink: How 3D-printed Skin Scaffolds is Improving Wound Care in Africa
Chronic wounds push millions into pain, poverty, and amputation, placing a staggering burden on families and health systems across Africa. But what if the solution could be printed, layer by layer, using materials rooted in African soil? This episode unpacks a quiet revolution in wound care, and the future of African innovation in medicine.
A diabetic ulcer that refuses to close. A burn that turns fatal because donor skin is nowhere to be found—these are not rare tragedies—they are daily realities in clinics and homes across Africa. Chronic wounds drain family savings, rob breadwinners of their livelihoods, and too often end in amputation or death. However, a homegrown invention is tackling this challenge head on. Pan-African Frequency spoke to Dr. Hafiza Parkar, a lecturer and pharmacologist from the University of Pretoria, who is developing 3D-printed skin scaffolds designed to transform wound care on the continent. She discussed how her innovation is revolutionizing wound treatment, strengthening regenerative medicine as well as how the continent can build on its scientific breakthroughs to create more accessible, innovative, and locally driven healthcare systems.
“Eventually we envision incorporating the patient's own cells into a personalized point that could potentially reduce our dependence on donor tissue. Importantly, that will also avoid the need to take healthy skin from another part of the same patient's body to treat the wound. And this could particularly be valuable for patients with extensive burns or chronic wounds where that donor's skin is already limited [...] We need to see ourselves as producers of knowledge and technology as well. And for me, that means publishing our research internationally, building strong collaborations, and importantly, protecting our intellectual property where appropriate and creating pathways for research to become products and clinical solutions. It also means investing in young African scientists. A scientific breakthrough is not sustainable if there's no research ecosystem around it. I also think we need to tell our own stories. When African research is communicated only through the lens of what is happening elsewhere, we can lose sight of incredible innovation that's happening on our continent,” Dr. Parkar said.
To listen to the whole discussion, tune in to the Pan-African Frequency podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
Discover more insights from our outstanding guests on the Pan-African Frequency podcast, proudly brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
In addition to the website, you can also catch our episodes on
Telegram.► Check out all the episodes of Pan-African Frequency 
