Dec 23 Watch 5:55 Ebola vaccine results are encouraging — but preliminary By PBS News Hour On Thursday, results from the World Health Organization's two-year trial studying the Ebola virus were published. They indicate that the vaccine is effective -- but it still needs to be approved by regulatory agencies. Hari Sreenivasan speaks with Dr. Anthony… Continue watching
Nov 19 Airstrikes force hospitals to shut down in rebel-held Aleppo By Michael D. Regan Syrian government airstrikes forced most hospitals in rebel-held Aleppo to close. Hundreds of people have been killed by the strikes this week including more than a dozen children. Continue reading
Nov 18 No longer an emergency, Zika virus is a long-term problem, says WHO By Alison Thoet After a nine-month emergency designation, the WHO reclassified Zika as a long-term epidemic similar to other mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and yellow fever. Continue reading
Oct 31 One in seven of world’s children breathe toxic air, UNICEF reports By Ryan Connelly Holmes Using satellite imagery, the children’s aid organization determined that 300 million children worldwide breathe air six times more polluted than the World Health Organization’s recommended limit. Continue reading
Oct 28 In Haiti, are 1 million doses of cholera vaccine enough to stop an outbreak? By Larisa Epatko When Hurricane Matthew steamrolled southern Haiti earlier this month, it wiped out houses, bridges and roads. It also decimated sanitation systems, putting the Caribbean island nation at risk of worsening cholera outbreaks. Continue reading
Oct 11 Watch 5:18 News Wrap: Receding waters reveal ruinous hurricane damage By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Tuesday, the death toll of Hurricane Matthew rose to 30 in the United States, half from North Carolina. There are also rising concerns about disease in hard-hit Haiti. Also, Russian jets resumed heavy bombing of Aleppo,… Continue watching
Aug 15 There’s buzz around Zika, but could yellow fever become the next pandemic? By Emily Baumgaertner, Scientific American Yellow fever could be on the verge of exploding out of central Africa and spreading to Asia, which has never before suffered a major outbreak. The most likely route of transmission: any one of the thousands of unvaccinated Chinese expatriates… Continue reading
Jun 15 WHO says ‘no conclusive evidence’ that coffee causes cancer By Andrew Small The agency also says that drinking “very hot” beverages, including coffee, mate and teas heated to as much as 160 degree Fahrenheit, was “probably carcinogenic” because of the harm it poses the throat. Continue reading
May 26 WHO: Some 1,000 killed in attacks on hospitals in 2 years By Maria Danilova, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Nearly 1,000 people have been killed worldwide in attacks on medical facilities in conflicts over the past two years in violation of humanitarian norms, the World Health Organization said in a report Thursday. Continue reading
Apr 16 Health officials to begin new global effort to eradicate polio By Shawn Paik This weekend marks the start of a global effort that health officials are hoping will be the final push to eradicate polio. Continue reading