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Global Health

Tuesday

Monday

Can Child Marriages Be Stopped?

Christina Asima says she had no choice but to marry last year at age 12 to help care for younger siblings after her mother abandoned the family. But she says her husband was abusive, so she left him, and now must look after her 8-month-old son, Praise, alone. Jennifer Ludden/NPR hide caption

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Jennifer Ludden/NPR

Parallels

Can Child Marriages Be Stopped?

Across the developing world, 1 in 3 girls marries before age 18. Some are wed and become mothers by the time they reach their teens. In Malawi, some villages have started to punish parents who marry off their young daughters.

Can Child Marriages Be Stopped?

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Friday

Eye Makeup Used To Protect Children Can Poison Them Instead

A child wearing the traditional eyeliner kajal peeps from behind a door in Allahabad, India. Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP hide caption

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Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Shots - Health News

Eye Makeup Used To Protect Children Can Poison Them Instead

When an Afghan toddler in Albuquerque was tested for lead at preschool, the child's blood levels were off the charts. A baby's brother's was, too. Why? It turns out that kajal, a traditional eyeliner used by the family, was 54 percent lead. It's a reminder of the health hazards posed by traditional cosmetics.

Thursday

Reinventing The Condom With Easy-On Tabs And Beef Tendon

One experimental condom has tabs on either side so it's easier to put on in the dark. Courtesy of California Family Health Council hide caption

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Courtesy of California Family Health Council

Shots - Health News

Reinventing The Condom With Easy-On Tabs And Beef Tendon

What would it take for people to like using condoms? Inventors say it's all about the fit and feel. The 11 winners in a competition sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation include one condom made from beef tendons, and another that's heat-activated for a glove-like fit.

Tuesday

Spiritual Healers Keep Watch For Plague In Uganda

Yoset, a spiritual healer near Arua, Uganda, works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to detect the plague in his village. Courtesy of Mary Hayden hide caption

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Courtesy of Mary Hayden

Shots - Health News

Spiritual Healers Keep Watch For Plague In Uganda

It can be tough to stop the plague from spreading in rural Uganda because most villages don't have medical doctors to diagnose the deadly infection. But healers and herbalists are common. A scientist has trained them to detect the illness and refer patients for modern treatment.

Tuesday

WHO Calls Typhoon's Medical Challenges 'Monumental'

A woman comforts a pregnant relative suffering labor pains at a makeshift birthing clinic in the typhoon-battered city of Tacloban, Philippines, on Monday. Erik de Castro/Reuters/Landov hide caption

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Erik de Castro/Reuters/Landov

Shots - Health News

WHO Calls Typhoon's Medical Challenges 'Monumental'

As horrific as Haiyan has been, the disaster likely won't reach the same level of death and injury as the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 or Haiti's 2010 quake, disaster specialists say. Better communication systems in the disaster area are one reason why.

WHO Calls Typhoon's Medical Challenges 'Monumental'

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Monday

Aid Groups Struggle To Reach Survivors Of Typhoon Haiyan

Military personnel from the U.S. and the Philippines unload relief goods at the Tacloban airport, Nov. 11, 2013. Some reports estimate that 10,000 people may have died in the city of Tacloban. Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Aid Groups Struggle To Reach Survivors Of Typhoon Haiyan

More than 600,000 have been left homeless and hungry by the devastating storm. In response, humanitarian agencies are mounting the largest relief operation since the Haitian earthquake in 2010. The biggest challenge right now is getting the basics — clean water and food — to the hardest hit areas.

Aid Groups Struggle To Reach Survivors Of Typhoon Haiyan

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Friday

Polio In The Middle East And Africa Could Threaten Europe

A doctor vaccinates a child against polio at a health clinic in Damascus, Syria, on Nov. 6. To stop the disease from spreading beyond Syria, health officials plan to vaccinate 20 million children in the region. Youssef Badawi/EPA /LANDOV hide caption

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Youssef Badawi/EPA /LANDOV

Shots - Health News

Polio In The Middle East And Africa Could Threaten Europe

The recent discovery of polio in Syria and Israel should be a wake-up call to European health officials, scientists say. Low vaccination rates in some regions could offer the crippling virus a chance to reenter Europe and possibly gain a foothold. Vaccines used there also make it more likely that people can spread the virus.

Science

Biosecurity for the Age of Redesigned Life

Forget dissecting frogs and building potato batteries. High school students today are learning genetic engineering--and some are even redesigning life. Bioethicists and the FBI have taken note and are rethinking biosecurity for the synthetic biology revolution.

Biosecurity for the Age of Redesigned Life

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Thursday

Wednesday

Violence, Chaos Let Polio Creep Back Into Syria And Horn Of Africa

The Ethiopian government has set up about a dozen vaccination booths along its thousand-mile border with Somalia. Jason Beaubien/NPR hide caption

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Jason Beaubien/NPR

Shots - Health News

Violence, Chaos Let Polio Creep Back Into Syria And Horn Of Africa

The number of polio cases globally sank to an all-time low in 2012. But outbreaks in Syria and Somalia this year are jeopardizing efforts to eradicate the virus. A recent visit to the Somali-Ethiopian border highlights just how easily polio can regain a foothold in rural, insecure communities.

Violence, Chaos Let Polio Creep Back Into Syria And Horn Of Africa

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Monday

Buffett Family Puts Money Where Their Mouth Is: Food Security

Warren Buffett (left), Howard G. Buffett (center) and grandson Howard W. Buffett collaborated on a book about the challenges of feeding more than 2 billion more mouths by 2050. Scott Eells/Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Scott Eells/Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Salt

Buffett Family Puts Money Where Their Mouth Is: Food Security

In a new book, billionaire investor Warren Buffett and his son and grandson discuss how to feed a growing planet. "We've been fortunate to make a whole lot more money than anybody can spend intelligently on themselves, so the object is to spend it intelligently on the rest of the world," says the senior Buffett.

Sunday

How The World Backed Polio Into A Corner

A young girl stands in the doorway of a home in Uttar Pradesh, India. The markings on the door show that a polio immunization team vaccinated children in the home. Alyce Henson/Courtesy of Rotary International hide caption

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Alyce Henson/Courtesy of Rotary International

Shots - Health News

How The World Backed Polio Into A Corner

Just a few decades ago, polio was crippling more than a thousand children each day. Now the paralyzing virus remains endemic to only three countries. A timeline shows how polio went from one of the most feared illnesses to a disease on the ropes.

Thursday

Slaying 'Little Dragons': Guinea Worm Moves Toward Eradication

Hawah Alhassan, 5, contracted Guinea worm in a village near Tamale, Ghana, in 2007. The country eliminated the parasite in 2011. Wes Pope/MCT/Landov hide caption

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Wes Pope/MCT/Landov

Shots - Health News

Slaying 'Little Dragons': Guinea Worm Moves Toward Eradication

Known as the "affliction with little dragons," Guinea worm is a nasty parasite that can grow up to 3 feet inside a person. A decades-long campaign to eliminate the worm is starting to pay off. There were only about 500 cases worldwide in 2012, and 89 cases in the first half of 2013.

Wednesday

A Toddler Remains HIV-Free, Raising Hope For Babies Worldwide

HIV-positive babies rest in an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Treatment right after birth may make it possible for HIV-positive newborns to fight off the virus. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption

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Brent Stirton/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

A Toddler Remains HIV-Free, Raising Hope For Babies Worldwide

The news that a baby born HIV-positive in Mississippi stayed HIV-free even though her mother stopped giving her anti-retroviral drugs sparked skepticism earlier this year. But a new report says that the girl is still virus-free at age 3. This could jumpstart a global study on super-early treatment of HIV-positive newborns.