Swachh Bharat Mission on track to declare India open defecation free by October 2019
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), over 500,000 villages and 585 districts in India have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).
Public health & disease
From disease eradication efforts to advances in vaccination and maternal health, this archive tracks real progress in public health. Stories here focus on what’s working — policies, interventions, and research that are improving and extending lives around the world.
U.S. cancer death rate hits milestone of 25 years of decline
Lower smoking rates are translating into fewer deaths. Advances in early detection and treatment also are having a positive impact, experts say.
Bulgarian doctors implant world’s first 3D-printed rib
The physicians say that the 35-year-old patient is in “perfect health” after the procedure, and they are already planning on performing additional surgeries with the 3D-printed ‘bones,’ including three ribs along with a sternum.
Dark web dealers voluntarily ban deadly drug
According to reports from law enforcement agencies, drug traffickers on the dark web have voluntarily stopped trading a deadly opioid that can be up to 100 times stronger than heroin.
New peanut allergy drug shows ‘lifesaving’ potential
The results of a new study may lead to approval of what could be the first oral medication that ameliorates reactions in children with severe peanut allergies.
Gun control groups eclipse NRA in U.S. election spending
Amid a numbing succession of mass shootings, gun control groups outspent the National Rifle Association in the midterm election cycle.
B.C. government to provide transgender surgery
The British Columbia government announced Friday it will provide reconstructive lower surgery for transgender people.
U.S. FDA grants ‘breakthrough’ status to psilocybin mushroom therapy for untreatable depression
The US Food and Drug Administration has just granted a “Breakthrough Therapy” designation to a treatment that uses psychedelic mushrooms as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression.
First-of-its-kind study finds cannabis oil ‘significantly’ improves the symptoms of Crohn’s Disease
In a randomized, placebo-controlled study, researchers from Israel have shown that cannabis can produce clinical remission in up to 65% of individuals after 8 weeks of treatment.
Paralyzed patients walk again with help from new, revolutionary pain stimulator
The new research shows that electrical stimulation of the spine can re-educate the body and help move the legs even though signals from the brain are cut off.