Global Health

Is China's Zero Tolerance Approach To Fighting The Delta Variant Worth The Cost?

4:39pm August 25, 2021

by Emily Feng

China is taking a zero tolerance approach to the delta variant through mass testing and sudden lockdowns. Can those measures work? And are they sustainable?

Volunteers and trainees with the group Bikeygees at a park in Berlin in July. The organization teaches refugee women in Germany how to ride bikes. Trainee Shapol Bakir-Rasoul, a refugee from Iraq, holds up a Bikeygees sign with founder Annette Krüger, ri

'A Beautiful Feeling': Refugee Women In Germany Learn The Joy Of Riding Bikes

9:02am August 22, 2021

by Deborah Amos

They come from countries where the idea of a girl on a bicycle is often taboo. Now a group called Bikeygees is teaching them to master the pedals. For the new riders, it's a lifelong dream come true.

Tori Cooper is the first Black transgender woman appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

1st Black Trans Woman On Presidential HIV/AIDS Panel Seeks To Focus On Equality

7:00am August 21, 2021

by Jonathan Franklin

As the first Black transgender woman to serve in this capacity, Tori Cooper says she is eager to advocate on behalf of all transgender and non-binary people living with HIV.

Medics in Jerusalem transfer a COVID-19 patient to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem. Many hospitals in Israel are at full capacity following a sharp increase in coronavirus infections.

Health & Safety

Highly Vaccinated Israel Is Seeing A Dramatic Surge In New COVID Cases. Here's Why

4:52pm August 20, 2021

by Daniel Estrin

What happened? Here are six lessons learned from Israel's experience — and one looming question for the future of the pandemic.

COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, the international vaccine-sharing program, arrive in Khartoum, Sudan, on Aug. 5. In a letter to President Biden, health experts are asking him to take action to manufacture and distribute vaccines to the entire world.

They're Asking Biden To Vaccinate The World. It's Not Fair. But It's Not Impossible

12:22pm August 20, 2021

by Joanne Lu

An open letter from 175 experts to President Biden made the ask. "We're not trying to be unreasonable," explains Dr. Paul Farmer, one of the signers. "We're trying to be optimistic and audacious."

Afghan women gather to protest claims of human rights violations of women by the Taliban regime.

Health & Safety

The Phone Call That Made An Afghan Woman Doctor Flee

6:23pm August 19, 2021

by Nurith Aizenman

She practiced medicine in Mazar-e-Sharif. She wanted to serve her country. Her story offers a window into what the Taliban takeover may hold for Afghanistan's women.

Nurses feed newborn babies rescued and brought to Ataturk National Children's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 15, 2020, after their mothers were killed in an attack on a maternity ward operated by Doctors Without Borders. The health-care nonprofit

Afghanistan's Health Care Is In 'Limbo' Following Taliban Takeover, Says MSF Rep

5:51pm August 19, 2021

by Mary Louise Kelly

Filipe Ribeiro of Doctors Without Borders Afghanistan talks to NPR about the future of the country's health care system under Taliban rule.

The U.S. Is Trying To Improve Relations With Southeast Asia — Using Western Vaccines

4:36pm August 19, 2021

by Michael Sullivan

U.S. vaccine diplomacy is in full swing, especially in Southeast Asia. This distribution of millions of shots is an effort aimed in part at helping regain influence across several countries.

People line up last week to receive COVID-19 vaccines in Kampala, Uganda, after weeks of no supply. In Uganda, only 2.2% of the population had received one dose of a vaccine as of Aug. 15.

Why A Push For Boosters Could Make The Pandemic Even Worse

5:54pm August 18, 2021

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Public health figures believe a focus on boosters for the already vaccinated will hasten the emergence of new variants among the billions of unvaccinated people — including a vaccine-resistant strain.

Australian Defense Force personnel assist the public at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Sydney, Wednesday, Aug.18th. Australia's most populous state reported a record 633 new infections on Wednesday.

Australia Outbreak Grows, Spreads To New Zealand As Southeast Asia Deaths Spike

5:35am August 18, 2021

Australia's most populous state reported a record 633 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday as concerns grew about the delta variant's spread beyond Sydney. Three people died on Tuesday.