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Global Health

Thursday

To Help Women Worldwide, 'Walk In Their Shoes'

Ritu Sharma (right), shown during a visit to Honduras, makes one trip a year to live with underprivileged women, one week at a time, living as the women there live. Courtesy of Ritu Sharma hide caption

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Courtesy of Ritu Sharma

Game Changers

To Help Women Worldwide, 'Walk In Their Shoes'

Ritu Sharma, the president of the nonprofit Women Thrive Worldwide, spends time each year living and working with underprivileged women in order to better understand their lives. She hopes to help lift women and children out of poverty by influencing U.S policy.

To Help Women Worldwide, 'Walk In Their Shoes'

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Friday

Science

Tick Talk: Lyme Disease Under The Microscope

Banking giant JPMorgan's multibillion-dollar trading loss is blamed on an executive's absence due to Lyme disease. And a mild winter has some scientists predicting a busy tick season ahead. A panel of experts discuss how the infection is contracted, why it's often misdiagnosed and the most effective treatment options.

Tick Talk: Lyme Disease Under The Microscope

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Thursday

Call For Emergency Action On Polio Eradication

A Pakistani man wheels Jamshid, an 8-year-old girl with polio, around the outskirts of the capital Islamabad last July. Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Call For Emergency Action On Polio Eradication

Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the only three countries left where poliovirus remains endemic. But work to put the paralyzing virus on the ropes there is in danger of failing. The setbacks have spurred a renewed focus on defeating the disease.

Tuesday

Shoddy Drugs Threaten Malaria Treatment

The Anopheles stephensi mosquito transmits the malarial parasite while dining on human blood. You can find this type of mosquito in Afghanistan, China, India, Thailand and the Middle East. CDC hide caption

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CDC

Shots - Health News

Shoddy Drugs Threaten Malaria Treatment

From 20 to 42 percent of the malaria medicines examined in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa were crummy or counterfeit. The poor quality of the medicines threatens people's health and raises the odds for drug-resistant disease.

Tuesday

U.S. Funding Of HIV/AIDS Fight Overseas Carries Other Benefits

A mother and child wait to receive treatment at the HIV clinic in Nyagasambu, Rwanda, in Feb. 2008. The clinic was built by the Washington-based Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation with a grant from the PEPFAR program. Shashank Bengali/MCT/Landov hide caption

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Shashank Bengali/MCT/Landov

Shots - Health News

U.S. Funding Of HIV/AIDS Fight Overseas Carries Other Benefits

Has the massive amount the United States has to treat people with HIV in poor countries crowded out prevention and treatment of other diseases? An analysis of health data from nine countries in Africa suggests that's not the case.

Thursday

The Americas

Haiti Aid Worker Reflects On The Limits Of Help

Aid work is often seen as tough, but rewarding. In a recent blog post, Quinn Zimmerman offered a more nuanced take on his work in Haiti.

Haiti Aid Worker Reflects On The Limits Of Help

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Wednesday

Tuesday

Bird Flu Scientist Has Applied For Permit To Export Research

Local officials burn chicken coops in anticipation of a resurgence in bird flu in Jakarta, Indonesia, in January. Concerns about potential misuse of research into genes that control the contagiousness of flu have stymied publication. Tatan Syuflana/AP hide caption

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Tatan Syuflana/AP

Shots - Health News

Bird Flu Scientist Has Applied For Permit To Export Research

The Dutch scientist at the center of the controversy over recent bird flu experiments says that his team applied for government permission Tuesday to submit a paper describing their research to a science journal. He is optimistic the request will be granted, but had hoped he wouldn't need the special permit.

Dream Adventure Vacation Can Turn Into Medical Bill Nightmare

Here goes nothing. A big jump over the Zambezi River in Africa. James Whatley/Flickr hide caption

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James Whatley/Flickr

Shots - Health News

Dream Adventure Vacation Can Turn Into Medical Bill Nightmare

KFF Health News

Chances are your domestic health plan won't pick up the tab for medical care overseas, and it almost certainly won't cover you if you're seriously hurt and need to be evacuated by air to a medical facility. Even special polices to help overseas may not be enough if you engage in risky adventures.

Sunday

Friday

Dutch Government Set To Reconsider Restrictions On Bird Flu Study

Chickens were killed in Hong Kong last December in an effort to halt the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. Aaron Tam/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Aaron Tam/AFP/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Dutch Government Set To Reconsider Restrictions On Bird Flu Study

The conflict over publishing controversial bird flu research may come to a head next Monday, as the Dutch government meets to consider whether it should lift controls that have kept a scientist from openly discussing his work with the deadly virus.

Exercising Even A Little Bit Makes It Easier For Smokers To Quit

A competitor stops for a cigarette after he broke down during the Enduropale race at Le Touquet Beach on February 22, 2009 in Le Touquet, France. Paul Gilham/Getty Images hide caption

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Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Exercising Even A Little Bit Makes It Easier For Smokers To Quit

Smokers who exercised just a little bit had an easier time quitting and were less likely to relapse, new research says. Even smokers who can't quit are less likely to die if they walk 15 minutes a day.

Tuesday

CDC Chief: New Vaccines In Haiti Will Save Tens Of Thousands

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (center) talks to a health worker during a visit to Eliazar Germain hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday. It's Sebelius' first visit to the country. Ramon Espinosa/AP hide caption

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Ramon Espinosa/AP

Shots - Health News

CDC Chief: New Vaccines In Haiti Will Save Tens Of Thousands

The campaign "will prevent 20,000 to 50,000 deaths among children in Haiti over the next decade," Dr. Thomas Frieden says at the end of a two-day trip to the nation.

Sebelius Lends Support To Vaccination Projects In Haiti

Rice farmer Alexi Rochnel shows his blank cholera vaccination card. April is the beginning of Haiti's rainy season, which will likely intensify Haiti's cholera outbreak. John W. Poole/NPR hide caption

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John W. Poole/NPR

Shots - Health News

Sebelius Lends Support To Vaccination Projects In Haiti

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is expected to show her support for two big vaccination initiatives in Haiti, including one against cholera. Previously, U.S. health officials were cool to the cholera pilot project .