access to health care

Tomeka Kimbrough-Hilson was diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2006 and underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous mass. When she started experiencing symptoms again in 2020, she was unable to get an appointment with a gynecologist. Her experience was not uncommon, according to a new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Nicole Buchanan for NPR hide caption

Kyle Planck, who has recovered from a painful case of monkeypox, has joined advocacy groups and pleaded with elected officials to make the antiviral pills TPOXX more available. Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

There are parallels between COVID and HIV. Despite effective treatment and prevention tools, preventable deaths continue because of difficulties reaching out to and educating people about the tools. And even as the country seems determined to move on from the pandemic, as of April 2022, someone dies of COVID-19 every four minutes in the U.S. Ron Frehm/AP hide caption

"One of the greatest gifts is to feel alive while you are alive," Katherine Standefer says. She writes about her experiences living with an implantable cardiac defibrillator in Lightning Flowers. Luke Parsons/Hachette Book Group hide caption