Global Health

A child is immunized against polio at the health clinic in a farming village in northern Nigeria. The procedure involves pinching two drops of the vaccine into the child's mouth. For full protection, the child needs three doses, spaced out over time.

How To Get Rid Of Polio For Good? There's A $5 Billion Plan

9:56pm April 02, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

Last year there were just over 200 cases of polio in remote parts of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Now, a new $5.5 billion plan aims to eliminate the disease for good by 2018.

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Amid Syria's Crisis, Mental Health Care For Refugees

11:03am March 26, 2013

There are now more than one million Syrians seeking refuge in camps and towns in neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Many arrive without access to basic amenities, such as adequate shelter and clean water. Over two years of conflict has also left them with the mental scars of war.

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Health & Safety

What The Case Of A Mississippi Child Can Tell HIV Researchers

2:53pm March 18, 2013

For the first time, scientists believe a child infected with HIV has been cured. NPR health correspondent Richard Knox explains this case and other developments in HIV research presented at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

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Dr. Hamad Suleiman Daher, shown here with his youngest daughter, was the first person to receive a kidney transplant in Gaza.

Can Kidney Transplants Ease Strain On Gaza's Health System?

9:54am March 17, 2013

by Larry Abramson

Years of war have overtaxed Gaza's hospitals, making it tough for kidney patients to get good treatment. Thanks to help from British doctors, Gaza surgeons are now being trained to perform kidney transplants. They hope to help ease the huge demand for dialysis, but transplants have their own cost.

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Many homes that were rebuilt after the earthquake in 2010 are even more dangerous than the original ones. This three-story home was put up after the quake but is already slated for demolition to make way for an 18-unit housing project.

What Happened To The Aid Meant To Rebuild Haiti?

4:39pm March 04, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

Three years after an earthquake destroyed much of Haiti's capital, it's clear that only a fraction of the $9 billion pledged in international relief reached the country. Most of what did arrive went to short-term relief, instead of rebuilding people's homes.

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HIV drugs not only can keep patients healthy but also can stop the sexual transmission of the virus. Here an HIV-positive mother picks up medications at a hospital outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

Treating HIV Patients Protects Whole Community

9:51am February 22, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

Treating people for HIV isn't just beneficial for those infected but also helps the entire community. Two studies show that where HIV drugs are widely available, the risk for new HIV infections drops dramatically and overall life expectancy increases by more than a decade.

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Health officials around the world are on constant lookout for the deadly bird flu. Here a worker collects chickens on a farm in Kathamndu, Nepal, where the virus was suspected of infecting poultry last October.

Health & Safety

Feds Set New Rules For Controversial Bird Flu Research

7:25am February 22, 2013

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

In early 2012, experiments that made H5N1 bird flu more contagious caused an uproar. People feared that mutant viruses could escape the lab and kill people. To prevent a repeat, the government has unveiled a policy describing how scientists should study dangerous pathogens and toxins.

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Syrian women walk through a market area in the northern city of Aleppo last November. A new website is documenting the use of rape in the Syrian conflict.

Tracking Rape In Syria Through Social Media

8:17pm February 05, 2013

by Deborah Amos

Researchers are using data from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media sites. There are, however, questions about the accuracy of the reports coming from Syria.

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Health workers in Nepal culled chickens and destroyed eggs following an outbreak of bird flu in Kathmandu in October 2012.

Scientists Put An End To Moratorium On Bird Flu Research

8:53pm January 23, 2013

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

After researchers created versions of the bird flu virus that could spread more easily, critics began to worry that the work could spawn a pandemic if a virus escaped from the lab. After halting their work for more than a year, scientists now say the benefits outweigh the risks, and they are set to restart their experiments.

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Health & Safety

In Syria, Addressing Medical Needs In An Embattled City

4:07pm January 23, 2013

Nearly two years after the crisis in Syria began, the humanitarian situation in the country remains dire. Shinjiro Murata, head of the Doctors Without Borders mission in northern Syria and NPR foreign correspondent Deborah Amos, discuss the efforts to address growing medical needs.

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