Accessibility links
Global Health NPR news on world health issues, disease control, public health and sanitation, and health education. Subscribe to the RSS feed.

Global Health

Tuesday

Status Improves For Women, But Problems Remain

A new report concludes that nations around the world have had mixed success in reaching goals set out 10 years ago at a United Nations population conference. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

Status Improves For Women, But Problems Remain

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3881787/3881866" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Monday

GM Mosquito Offers Hope in Fight Against Malaria

Malaria cases are increasing, in part because the parasite has learned how to fight off many new drugs. Scientists are hoping to stop the disease at its source -- by redesigning the mosquito that carries malaria. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

GM Mosquito Offers Hope in Fight Against Malaria

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3864863/3864864" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

From Our Listeners

The Politics and Realities of Stem Cell Research

First Lady Laura Bush is defending the current administration against charges of stymieing stem-cell research. How many stem cell lines are actually available to scientists? And how might the issue play in this year's election?

The Politics and Realities of Stem Cell Research

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3850469/3850470" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

World

Locusts Descend On Africa

Swarms of locusts are eating their way across northern Africa, consuming entire crops in subsistence farming communities. The locusts are headed for the region in Chad where Sudanese refugees from Darfur are encamped. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and U.N. locust expert Clive Elliot.

Locusts Descend On Africa

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3849657/3849658" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Wednesday

Health

Journalist John Cohen on AIDS in Asia

Fresh Air

Journalist Jon Cohen recently finished a four-part series on HIV and AIDS in Asia for the Science Magazine. In researching the series, he traveled to six countries and talked to doctors, patients, public health officials, sex workers and drug users. Cohen has been writing about the AIDS epidemic for 15 years. His book on the search for a vaccine is called Shots in the Dark.

Journalist John Cohen on AIDS in Asia

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3846251/3846252" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday

World

U.S. to Send Health Books to Afghan Mothers

The U.S. government is sending 20,000 talking books to Afghanistan in an effort to improve maternal and child health. The country has the world's highest maternal mortality rate, and statistics for children are even grimmer. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

U.S. to Send Health Books to Afghan Mothers

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3813774/3813775" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday

Herbally Derived Drug Combats Resistant Malaria

A new report says the increasing death toll from the mosquito-borne disease can be reversed through international support of a new drug based on a Chinese herbal treatment. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.

Herbally Derived Drug Combats Resistant Malaria

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3604216/3604217" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Sunday

Health

China's Female Population Numbers Continue to Shrink

China's demographics don't add up, according to a new study. The country's 2000 census indicates 120 boys are born for every 100 girls, giving China the highest sex ratio in the world. Researchers estimate the country is missing a million girls every year from its birth count, renewing fears that widespread sex selection and infanticide may be to blame. NPR's Susan Stamberg talks with Bowdoin College professor Nancy Riley.

China's Female Population Numbers Continue to Shrink

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3499024/3499025" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday

AIDS Conference Focuses on Plight of Women

At the 15th International AIDS Conference, held in Thailand this past week, scientists and policy makers focused particular attention on the fate of women with AIDS. Hear NPR's Susan Stamberg and Dr. Kathleen Cravero of UNAIDS.

AIDS Conference Focuses on Plight of Women

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3492036/3492037" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

AIDS Conference Hits U.S. Plan

The 15th International AIDS Conference comes to a close in Thailand. A U.S. plan to spend $15 billion on emergency measures is criticized over details, and divisions are evident at the gathering despite calls for unity. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

AIDS Conference Hits U.S. Plan

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3482015/3482016" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

From Our Listeners

HIV and AIDS Update

Thousands of scientists, activists and policy makers are meeting in Bangkok, Thailand this week for the International AIDS Conference. Join NPR's Joe Palca for an update from the meeting, including a look at the latest in AIDS treatment and prevention. Are microbicide gels the best option for preventing HIV infection in women? What are the prospects for an HIV vaccine?

HIV and AIDS Update

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3466012/3466013" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Politics

Senate Backs Tobacco as Drug

The U.S. Senate votes to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco as a drug. The legislation was part of a larger package to end federal price supports for tobacco farmers. But passage in the House is far from certain. NPR's David Welna reports.

Senate Backs Tobacco as Drug

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3471038/3471039" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Indian Traditions Impeding HIV/AIDS Prevention

The powerlessness of women is partly behind the spread of AIDS in some parts of India. NPR's Brenda Wilson looks at how centuries-old cultural attitudes have put women at a high risk for HIV.

Indian Traditions Impeding HIV/AIDS Prevention

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3471044/3471045" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

Botswana Aims to De-Stigmatize AIDS Testing

In much of the developing world, social stigma attached to AIDS has made testing uncommon. But in Bostwana, where some 40 percent of the adult population is infected, health officials have even enlisted the president in a public campaign to make testing routine. Fred de Sam Lazaro of Twin Cities Public Television reports.

Botswana Aims to De-Stigmatize AIDS Testing

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3413009/3413010" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">