Health & Safety

Double-check that URL before you diagnose yourself.

Will .Health Make It More Likely That You'll Get Scammed?

12:24pm September 29, 2014

by Alison Bruzek

New websites ending in "health," "doctor" and "clinic" will soon start appearing online. But anyone can buy those names. Some public health researchers worry that they'll purvey bogus medical advice.

Patients recovering from Ebola at the Kenema treatment center must remain behind white plastic fencing until they are officially discharged.

The Ebola Survivor Who Works In An Ebola Ward

9:50pm September 28, 2014

by Anders Kelto

When the 23-year-old Sierra Leonean tells patients to follow their doctors' orders and to keep fighting, they really listen.

Queue Listen Now

In Sierra Leone, a burial team from the government carries the coffin of an Ebola doctor who succumbed to the virus. Funerals and other expressions of mourning are key moments for anthropologists to translate between native cultures and foreign aid effort

The Experts The Ebola Response May Need: Anthropologists

4:33pm September 28, 2014

by NPR Staff

The scientists who study humans and their cultures could help health care professionals treat people who are reasonably, desperately afraid, they argue.

Queue Listen Now

Emily Whittington, a radiation therapist at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, pulls down a mask intended to guide radiation beams into patients with head and neck cancer.

Unmasked, Cancer Survivors Face The Symbol Of Their Torture

3:21pm September 28, 2014

by Emily Siner

For some survivors of head and neck cancer, the mask each had to wear to guide beams of radiation therapy remains a potent symbol. Some destroy the mask afterward. Others see a new beginning.

Queue Listen Now

2 Ways To Think About Nothing, One Mo' Time

5:48am September 28, 2014

by Robert Krulwich

Let's compare two kinds of nothing: an empty patch of deep space and an empty piece of paper that was once beautiful. There's nothing to see in either. Or is there?

Michael Granillo and his wife Sonia await treatment at an emergency room in Northridge, Calif.

Avoid The Rush! Some ERs Are Taking Appointments

12:19pm September 27, 2014

by Anna Gorman

Nobody looks forward to sitting in the waiting room. So some hospitals are trying to improve customer satisfaction by offering online appointments. The pitch: "Wait for the ER from home."

Queue Listen Now

A sign in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's capital, warns residents that "the Ebola threat is real."

Denying Ebola Turns Out To Be A Very Human Response

7:03am September 27, 2014

by Hannah Bloch

There's a long tradition of denial, superstition and wishful thinking when it comes to health. Ebola is no exception. It's all too human to let fear interfere with facts.

John Mayer sings to tens of thousands at the 2013 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. The event is part of an effort to end extreme poverty.

A Concert With Jay-Z (And India's Leader) Aims To End Poverty

1:55pm September 26, 2014

by Linda Poon

The Global Citizen Festival is live in New York (and on TV) on Saturday. The superstar-studded event is designed to encourage concertgoers to care about the issues as well as the celebrities.

Health & Safety

And The Million Dollar Hult Prize Goes To A Doc In A Box

11:29am September 26, 2014

by Eleanor Klibanoff

The challenge: come up with a plan to improve healthcare in slums. There were 11,000 entries, featuring everything from bees to chewing gum as part of the proposal. And the winner is...

Bendu Borlay, 21 and an Ebola survivor, is caring for an infant whose mother died of the disease.

Grieving But Grateful, Ebola Survivors In Liberia Give Back

11:12am September 26, 2014

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

After living through their own nightmares, Ebola survivors are still mourning the loss of their loved ones. But they're giving back by working at the treatment centers and caring for children.

Queue Listen Now