Global Health

A new U.S. agency is a response to the fact that nobody was ready for the pandemic

7:31pm August 03, 2023

by Sacha Pfeiffer

The Bureau of Global Health, Security and Diplomacy, housed in the State Department, will plan for the next pandemic. We interviewed its director, virologist and global health leader John Nkengasong.

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The World Health Organization led this measles vaccination campaign in India in 1974 — reflecting its mission "to promote and protect the health of all peoples."

8 bold agenda items for the World Health Organization as it turns 75

12:26pm April 06, 2023

by Ari Daniel

Pay more attention to teens, ethics, the planet, long COVID and more. NPR asks public health leaders what this U.N.-created agency should add to its docket in this anniversary year.

Mwele Malecela targeted diseases that afflict the poor and disadvantaged and always wanted to give the locals a voice in any programs or strategies.

Health & Safety

In memoriam: Female trailblazers who leapt over barriers to fight for their sisters

5:49pm December 30, 2022

They were pioneers in their fields, working to improve the health and lives of other women and paving the way for other female scientists.

Aspergillus fumigatus can infect the lungs, causing pneumonia-like symptoms that can progress into more severe sickness.

Health & Safety

WHO releases list of threatening fungi. The most dangerous might surprise you

3:14pm October 26, 2022

by Max Barnhart

Invasive, deadly fungi are on the rise. In its first-ever Fungal Priority Pathogen List, the World Health Organization says these are the most important.

Twin sisters Tripti and Pari, who lost both their parents to COVID-19, play at a relative's home in Bhopal, India on May 11, 2021. A new study estimates that 8 million kids lost a parent or primary caregiver to a pandemic-related cause.

Health & Safety

Nearly 8 million kids lost a parent or primary caregiver to the pandemic

4:09pm September 06, 2022

by Rhitu Chatterjee

A new study finds numbers far higher than previously thought. India has the greatest number of kids affected. The U.S. has 250,000 kids in this category but lags behind in aid for bereaved families.

Ibrahim Songne, an immigrant from Burkina Faso, opened a pizza spot called IBRIS in the Italian town of Trento. He overcame local prejudices — and now has been named to a list of the world's top 50 pizzerias.

Health & Safety

Whatever happened to the African-born pizza chef who won over biased Italians?

8:25am September 03, 2022

by Ian Brennan

Ibrahim Songne overcame local prejudice to gain success in Italy with his pizza joint and a spot on a list of top 50 global pizza joints. He's now made a special pizza in honor of ... Goats and Soda!

Sikhulile Moyo, the laboratory director at the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute and a research associate with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, headed the team that identified the omicron variant.

Whatever happened to the Botswana scientist who identified omicron — then caught it?

4:53pm September 02, 2022

by Melody Schreiber

Sikhulile Moyo led the team that first identified omicron — and was dismayed by the world's reaction — blaming and blacklisting African nations. He's now a bit more optimistic.

Left to right: Nazia, Mubina and Leila saw their homes washed away in the flooding. They now share a tent at a technical college that has been converted into a camp for displaced people.

Mothers tell how Pakistan's monsoon floods have upended their lives

11:09am September 02, 2022

by Diaa Hadid

In the city of Nowshera, tent cities for flood refugees are springing up on college campuses. At one such haven, mothers spoke to NPR about their struggle to survive.

Joel Joseph in the clothing shop where he worked with a friend during the pandemic.

Whatever happened to the teens who endured the world's longest COVID school closure?

1:41pm September 01, 2022

Ugandan schools were shut for nearly 2 years due to the pandemic. High schoolers were glad to see the shutdown end early this year. But for many, school fees stand in the way of a return to class.

The Corbevax vaccine was invented at the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital and intended for countries that couldn't get access to more expensive COVID vaccines. India has inoculated millions of teens with Corbevax (above, a vacci

Whatever happened to the new no-patent COVID vaccine touted as a global game changer?

6:04pm August 31, 2022

by Joe Palca

The inventors of Corbevax said it was cheap, easy to make, effective and safe. They hoped it could bring vaccine equity to countries that can't access costlier shots. Has it lived up to its promise?