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February 28, 2013 Every year about 300,000 babies in sub-Saharan Africa are born with HIV. A new strategy aims to reduce these infections by putting every pregnant woman with HIV on drug treatment for the rest of her life. The approach has worked well, so far, in the small country of Malawi.

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February 28, 2013 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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On Morning EditionPlaylist

February 27, 2013 So far, there have been only a few cases of illness tied to a new kind of coronavirus. But the urgency to learn more about the virus was heightened recently when the first instances of person-to-person infection were seen.

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February 26, 2013 Many American doctors are nurses are helping to build medical schools abroad, as funding agencies push for this collaborative style of philanthropy. Even former President Clinton is getting involved. He's launched a $15 million initiative to revamp Rwanda's health care system.

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February 22, 2013 Dozens of kids get sick after a seemingly innocent birthday party. Was it the homemade ice cream or an accident in the pool? A new iPad app lets you solve outbreak puzzles just like real disease detectives. It's pleasing entertainment, if not as infectious as real video games.

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February 22, 2013 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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On Morning EditionPlaylist

February 22, 2013 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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February 19, 2013 A new virus, which causes severe pneumonia, has killed a British man with a suppressed immune system. This is the sixth death from the coronavirus and the first outside the Middle East, where it emerged last year. Officials say the risk to the general population is low.

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February 13, 2013 Contaminated and counterfeit drugs can be more profitable than illegal ones, and they're spreading. This problem is killing people around the world, including in the U.S., and hampering efforts to control diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS.

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February 13, 2013 Until now, a new SARS-like virus showed little signs of being contagious. Only 10 cases have been reported, and all appeared to originate in the Middle East. Health officials now say a British resident likely caught the virus from a family member in the U.K., indicating that the virus can spread between people.

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February 12, 2013 The world is close to wiping out polio, as the number of new cases is at an all-time low. But recent violence against polio vaccinators threatens to reverse this progress. Recently, gunmen killed nine polio vaccinators in Nigeria, mirroring attacks in Pakistan in December.

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February 10, 2013 Chagas' disease, which is transmitted by the "kissing bug," occurs mainly in Latin America. But the illness is on the rise in the U.S. Health economists now estimate that Chagas costs the world about $7 billion annually, which is more than the cost of cervical cancer or cholera.

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February 7, 2013 Money to fight HIV and tuberculosis worldwide went through a huge growth in the early 2000s. But donations have plateaued in the past few years, economists say, as governments tighten their budgets. The U.S. is still the biggest contributor to global health, giving about $10 billion in 2010.

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February 6, 2013 Thousands of kids have been exposed to toxic levels of lead around illegal gold mines in northern Nigeria. After months of delay, the Nigerian government has released money to clean up the lead in these areas.

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February 5, 2013 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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