Global Health

Displaced Kurdish and Arab women, who fled from violence after a Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria, sit with their children at a public school used as shelter where they now live in Hasakah, Syria.

UNICEF's Top Syria Official: 'We Have Witnessed Huge Amounts Of Distress' Among Kids

3:43pm October 25, 2019

by Tim McDonnell

Turkey's invasion of Syria this month has displaced 80,000 children who are "really in deep distress," UNICEF's Fran Equiza tells NPR. "The price children pay is absolutely disproportionate."

A health worker gives the oral polio vaccine to a child in Karachi, Pakistan.

Ghost Viruses And The Taliban Stand In The Way Of Wiping Out Polio

1:45am October 25, 2019

by Jason Beaubien

The World Health Organization is celebrating the eradication of another strain of the polio virus. Yet major challenges remain in the global effort to get rid of the disease.

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Nabia Drammeh, 27, a nurse, talks with Maram Ceesay, and her granddaughter, Awa at the Brufut Minor Health Center outside of Banjul, the Gambia. Awa's mother passed away during childbirth leaving her Maram to look after her. The 2-year-old is being treate

Health & Safety

A Gambian Nurse Fights Pain Without Pills

7:53pm October 22, 2019

by Jason Beaubien

As the U.S. grapples with the opioid crisis, pain medication is in short supply in some other parts of the world. One nurse in the Gambia explains how she addresses pain with tools other than drugs.

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Signs in London designate the Ultra Low Emission and Congestion Charging zones for cars driven into the city's center.

London Says Air Pollution Fell By Roughly A Third After New Emissions Rules

5:23pm October 22, 2019

by Paolo Zialcita

If vehicles in central London don't meet emissions standards, their drivers must pay a daily fine. Six months into the new program, the city says the regulation is decreasing toxic air pollution.

A blood transfusion bag hangs in an operating room in a hospital in the Republic of Congo. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have a huge gap between blood supply and demand, new research found.

Hospitals Around The World Have A Dire Shortage Of Blood

4:13pm October 22, 2019

by Tim McDonnell

The first global analysis of blood supply and demand finds that many developing countries are relying on risky emergency donations.

Newborns are treated at a pediatric hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. The rates of childhood mortality have improved in Hanoi but remain high in more rural parts of the country.

Health & Safety

Where You're Born Even Within A Country Still Matters

2:25pm October 22, 2019

by Pien Huang

Fewer children are dying globally, but a new study finds geographic disparities still exist within many countries.

This notice on a cigarette packet in Thailand shows the potential impact of reduced blood circulation to extremities because of smoking. Such pictorial warnings are among the anti-smoking measures that are more likely to be found in countries that have li

Which Countries Do Best — And Worst — At Keeping Big Tobacco Out Of Politics

8:57am October 21, 2019

by Nurith Aizenman

The first-ever Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index points to the creative rules that some nations use — and what happens when contact isn't policed.

Scientists use a microscope to see if the genetic modification is spreading. Immature modified mosquitoes glow red with yellow eyes when illuminated with a laser.

VIDEO: See A Controversial Swarm Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes In A Lab In Italy

11:14am October 20, 2019

by Rob Stein

NPR was the only news organization allowed into the lab to witness the moment the releases began this year. The goal is to create a powerful new weapon in the fight against malaria.

BOB ❤ ABISHOLA is a love story about a middle-aged compression sock businessman from Detroit who is smitten with his cardiac nurse, a Nigerian immigrant.

CBS's 'Bob Hearts Abishola' Rings True To These Nigerian Viewers

3:00am October 20, 2019

by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

The new sitcom is about a white, middle-aged Detroiter who falls head over heels for a Nigerian nurse. We asked a couple of Nigerian viewers what they think of the show.

Addario's coverage of maternal mortality took her to a remote village in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan in 2009, where she photographed a midwife giving a prenatal check in a private home. "In these areas someone will announce that a doctor and a midwif

PHOTOS: Why Lynsey Addario Has Spent 10 Years Covering Maternal Mortality

9:19am October 19, 2019

by Emily Vaughn

The Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, known for her work in war zones, turns to a topic that is often shied away from: the risks women face when giving birth.