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Global Health

Tuesday

Monday

A Bid To Replace Neglect For Tropical Diseases With Attention

An artist on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach puts the final touches on a sand sculpture of the assassin bug, which spreads Chagas disease. The sculpture was part of an event in 2009 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the disease. Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

A Bid To Replace Neglect For Tropical Diseases With Attention

The new initiative marks the first time the world's 13 biggest pharmaceutical competitors have agreed to collaborate on a common goal and share their expertise on potential drugs, one of the project's leaders says.

Friday

Health

Be Here Now: Meditation For The Body And Brain

In his book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World, Oxford University clinical psychologist Mark Williams talks about the brain and body benefits of mindfulness meditation, a cognitive behavioral therapy that can be as effective as drugs at staving off recurring bouts of depression.

Be Here Now: Meditation For The Body And Brain

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Tuesday

Gains In Afghan Health: Too Good To Be True?

A nurse weighs an Afghan child at a U.S.-funded clinic in Farza, Afghanistan, in September. A new U.S.-sponsored survey shows dramatic gains in life expectancy and other aspects of health care in Afghanistan. But some experts are questioning the accuracy of the results. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption

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John Moore/Getty Images

World

Gains In Afghan Health: Too Good To Be True?

A U.S.-sponsored mortality survey released last year found huge improvements in health across Afghanistan. But the improvements are so dramatic that experts, including several involved in the survey, question the findings.

Gains In Afghan Health: Too Good To Be True?

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Friday

India Marks A Year Free Of Polio

An Indian boy receives a polio vaccination from an Indian health worker in Amritsar last year. Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

India Marks A Year Free Of Polio

The absence of a new polio case in India is a milestone in the decades-long effort to wipe the poliovirus from the face of the planet. Only a few years ago, India reported more polio cases than any other country in the world.

India Marks A Year Free Of Polio

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Health

A Doctor Tells All in 'Confessions Of A Surgeon'

In a new book, surgeon Paul Ruggieri reveals the "good, the bad, and the complicated" about being a surgeon, and operating on patients. From cutting into a man who just killed his wife, to the headaches of running a small business, Ruggieri candidly discusses his career.

A Doctor Tells All in 'Confessions Of A Surgeon'

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Health

New Tuberculosis Strain Thwarts All Antibiotics

Physicians in India have discovered a strain of tuberculosis they call 'TDR' for 'Totally Drug-Resistant'--meaning there is no antibiotic available to fight it. Maryn McKenna, author of Superbug, discusses the possible origins of the strain, and what options--if any--doctors have to treat it.

New Tuberculosis Strain Thwarts All Antibiotics

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Wednesday

TB That Resists All Drugs Is Found In India

An image of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria captured with an electron microscope. CDC hide caption

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CDC

Shots - Health News

TB That Resists All Drugs Is Found In India

A dozen cases of totally drug-resistant tuberculosis have been diagnosed in Mumbai. Infectious disease specialists say there will be more cases in India and other countries where TB that doesn't respond to some drugs is being treated inappropriately.

TB That Resists All Drugs Is Found In India

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Friday

Health

Debate Persists Over Publishing Bird Flu Studies

A federal advisory board has urged scientific journals not to publish the research from two labs that have developed an airborne flu virus. Microbiologist Vincent Racaniello discusses why the move sets a bad precedent. Biosecurity expert D.A. Henderson talks about the risks of publishing the research.

Debate Persists Over Publishing Bird Flu Studies

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Friday

Science

Year in Review: Science Stories of 2011

From the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant to the end of NASA"s shuttle program, a great deal of science stories made headlines this year. Science writers Mariette DiChristina, Matt Crenson, Steven Levy, and Paul Raeburn join Ira Flatow to discuss the year's top stories in science.

Year in Review: Science Stories of 2011

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Friday

Health

The War On Cancer Turns 40

Forty years ago, President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, beginning the War on Cancer. Harold Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute, discusses four decades of scientific progress in preventing, detecting and treating cancer--and the mysteries that still remain.

The War On Cancer Turns 40

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Tuesday

Snakebite Threat Gets Short Shrift

Snake handler Subhendu Malllik holds up an Indian baby cobra hatchling after it emerged from an egg on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, India, in June. The venomous snake is indigenous to South Asia. Asit Kumar/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Asit Kumar/AFP/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Snakebite Threat Gets Short Shrift

Even at the low end of estimates, deaths from snakebites would exceed those from some better-known scourges, such as cholera, dengue fever and Chagas disease.

Friday

Health

Hitting The 'Off' Switch On Antibiotic Resistance

Doctors are running out of effective antibiotics, as bacteria evolve ways to evade one drug after another. Now DARPA has called for alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Nanotechnologist Chad Mirkin discusses one such weapon--tiny globs of DNA and RNA that can switch off the bugs' antibiotic resistance. Nanotechnologist Chad Mirkin discusses next-generation antibiotics that target a bacterium's DNA.

Hitting The 'Off' Switch On Antibiotic Resistance

Listen · 9:08
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