Health & Safety

Lakisa Muhammad with her husband, Dewayne, and children Yasina, 17, Hassana, 13, and Amir, 17, in their garden at home in Maricopa, Ariz.

In Arizona, Birth Workers Of Color Fight For More Access

11:01am April 06, 2021

by Farah Eltohamy

As the state weighs legislation that could help expand access to doulas for expecting mothers, birth workers from minority communities worry new standards could leave them on the outside looking in.

Sonia Sein with her surgeons and ICU team at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

Woman Gets New Windpipe In Groundbreaking Transplant Surgery

7:51am April 06, 2021

by Richard Harris

A medical team in New York City says it has performed the first complete surgical transplant of a trachea. These kinds of transplants are one of the last big transplant challenges.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

U.S. Government Does Not Plan To Mandate Vaccine Passports

6:27am April 06, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Paul Meyer, CEO of The Commons Project, about his organization's work on digital vaccine passports, and how vaccine passports as a concept would work.

Queue Listen Now

African Immigrant Organizations Are Fighting To Ease Vaccine Hesitancy

8:01pm April 05, 2021

by Eva Tesfaye

Efforts to fight vaccine hesitancy among Black people often miss African immigrants who have a different colonial history and experience with Western medicine, which grassroots groups are addressing.

Queue Listen Now

Arkansas Governor Vetoes Bill To Prevent Treatments For Transgender Youths

7:59pm April 05, 2021

by Jacqueline Froelich

Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed a bill today that would have stopped doctors in Arkansas from treating transgender youth with hormones, puberty blockers or surgery.

Queue Listen Now

The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse, sits for a portrait at his group's field hospital in New York's Central Park in May. Graham has spoken out in support of COVID-19 vaccines.

'Love Your Neighbor' And Get The Shot: White Evangelical Leaders Push COVID Vaccines

6:53pm April 05, 2021

by Sarah McCammon

White evangelical Christians are one of the most vaccine-hesitant groups in the United States. They're also among the largest religious groups, and their reluctance poses a public health challenge.

Queue Listen Now

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, pictured in 2019, on Monday said the bill banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth would set "new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex

Arkansas Governor Vetoes Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Trans Youth

6:50pm April 05, 2021

by Vanessa Romo

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, called the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, or SAFE Act, "a vast government overreach." The legislature could override the veto with a simple majority.

Court Backlogs During The Pandemic Meant Kids Stayed Longer in Foster Care

5:03pm April 05, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Julia Lurie, senior reporter at Mother Jones, about how the pandemic has impacted the foster care system and kept children separated from their parents for longer.

Queue Listen Now

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson following a media briefing on COVID-19 in Downing Street, Monday in London.

England To Offer Free Twice-A-Week COVID-19 Tests

4:52pm April 05, 2021

by Jeannette Muhammad

The test roll-out is intended to ease the reopening of England's economy. But the move was met with critics who say rapid testing is a waste of money because it could result in many false positives.

COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation Has Been Catching On In Lebanon

4:50pm April 05, 2021

by Ruth Sherlock

Misinformation about the coronavirus has been catching on easily in Lebanon, where sectarian rivalries leave groups searching for answers that back their world view.

Queue Listen Now