Global Health NPR news on world health issues, disease control, public health and sanitation, and health education. Subscribe to the RSS feed.
Global Health
There's increasing emphasis on wearing masks while flying. How much protection do they offer against COVID-19? James D. Morgan/Getty Images hide caption
Claude Mabowa, 21years-old, an Ebola virus survivor and student, sits inside what used to be his sisters bedroom in Beni, north eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on September 17, 2019. He lost four family members to Ebola and whilst recovering inside the Ebola Treatment Centre he managed to take and pass his final school exams. John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Shoppers buy face masks on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday. Ireland's government is putting the country at its highest level of coronavirus restrictions for six weeks in a bid to combat a rise in infections. Niall Carson/AP hide caption
The study is still awaiting final regulatory approval. If given the green light, a study in which human volunteers will be infected with the coronavirus will begin in January at a biosecure unit at London's Royal Free Hospital. Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images via Getty Images hide caption
A new study shows that plastic baby bottles, when heated or shaken, release microplastics into the liquid. Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
Fartuun Adan (right) and Ilwad Elman, the mother and daughter named winners of this year's $1 million Aurora Prize for their efforts to help former child soldiers and others in their native Somalia. Kris Connor/Getty Images hide caption
UNICEF said Monday it plans to stockpile 520 million syringes in its warehouses in preparation for an eventual COVID-19 vaccine. This warehouse in Copenhagen, Denmark, is part of the agency's infrastructure to deliver medical supplies around the world. AP hide caption
Ranjana Dwivedi (in purple sari) is a health worker in her village in India. Coronavirus education is a top priority. Center: Iceland's chief of health, Dr. Alma D. Möller, leads the pandemic response. Right: Sheeba Shafaq, a doctor who left Afghanistan because of threats to her life, is now a supervisor at a COVID-19 testing unit in California and pursuing a U.S. medical license. Rishikesh Dwivedi; Sigga Ella for NPR; Jade Sacker for NPR hide caption
More than 40 million coronavirus infections have now been reported worldwide. Here, a staff member at a school in Moscow uses an infrared thermometer on Monday to screen students. Sergei Fadeichev/TASS via Getty Images hide caption
Saeb Erekat, Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and chief Palestinian negotiator, talks to reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah in March. Erekat is being treated in a Jerusalem hospital after contracting COVID-19. Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Karin Huster was diagnosed with breast cancer during the pandemic. As she yearned for human contact, memories of her work with Ebola patients in Africa came flooding back. Frank Huster for NPR hide caption
When it's cold outside, is it safe to bring a socially distanced gathering into your house if the windows are open for a short bit and then shut so indoor temperatures don't plummet? We answer this question below. Tessa Bunney/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
A seaside scene in Indonesia. As countries like Indonesia move up the income ladder, some health conditions improve — but new threats, like non-communicable diseases, loom large. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption
Geraldine Roman, the first openly transgender person to be elected to the Philippine Congress, visits a vegetable garden in Bataan. She leads a program called Oh My Gulay â gulay is Tagalog for "vegetables." It encourages people to grow vegetables to eat and sell and is aimed especially at those who have lost income as a result of the pandemic. Hannah Reyes Morales for NPR hide caption
From left: Sawsan al-Ramemi of Amman, Jordan, is a mom of two — and expecting her third child. Her husband is working in the U.S. Nienke Pastoor of the Netherlands has been juggling her job as a dairy farmer and helping her four teenagers with their online schoolwork. Jessica Barrera of Eau Claire, Wis., is finding ways to spread joy with her son, Niko, who's a virtual student these days. Nadia Bseiso, Julia Gunther and Lauren Justice for NPR hide caption
Commuters walk over London Bridge toward the city during the morning rush hour on Thursday. The city and other large areas are set to be under a high alert for the coronavirus. Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Russia's Vektor State Enterprise, a former Soviet-era bioweapons lab that has developed a new and yet-to-be-proven coronavirus vaccine, shown in 2018. Donat Sorokin/TASS hide caption
French President Emmanuel Macron is ordering nightly curfews for Paris and other large cities, hoping to control the coronavirus. A woman wears a protective face mask as she sits in the Louvre Museum's courtyard Wednesday in Paris. Chesnot/Getty Images hide caption
From left: Deng Ge is a rap mogul who became a lockdown activist. Poet Sally Wen Mao Mao uses her art to express her anger about how Chinese people are being portrayed in the pandemic. Writer and comic artist Laura Gao, living in the U.S., has a video chat with her grandmother Zhou Nai, who's happy to have a supply of mooncakes, a popular Chinese dessert. Image provided by Deng Ge; Yuri Hasegawa; and screen grab by Laura Gao. hide caption
The number of people dying from COVID-19 since May 10 is on average 50% higher than every other country in the study, adjusting for population size. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
Anti-vaccine activists protested at the Massachusetts State House in August against Governor Charlie Baker's mandate that all students enrolled in child care, pre-school, K-12, and post-secondary institutions must receive the flu vaccine this year. Scott Eisen/Getty Images hide caption
Police officers man a roadside checkpoint in Madrid Friday as travel restrictions are imposed to cope with a new wave of coronavirus infections. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Outdoor dining in Bonn, Germany. Indoor dining is riskier than outdoor meals, experts say. Outdoor air can disrupt viral particles that have been expelled. Andreas Rentz/Getty Images hide caption