Chinese citizens are using blockchain to warn each other of unsafe vaccines
By using the blockchain in this new way, Chinese citizens may have finally found a way to express themselves that’s beyond the government’s reach.
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.
Promising HIV vaccine moves to wider human trials
The most promising candidate for an effective HIV vaccine in over a decade is moving to large-scale human trials
Iowa Supreme Court blocks 72-hour abortion waiting period law
The judge sided with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa in a lawsuit.
Virginia and New York enact first laws demanding mental health education
The Empire State’s law, which was reportedly written in 2015, says mental health is “an integral part of our overall health and should be an integral part of health education in New York schools.”
Hawaii bans use of toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos
Hawaii governor David Ige signed a bill banning the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to increased risk of learning disabilities, lower IQs, developmental delays, and behavior problems in children.
Temple University researchers successfully reverse cognitive impairments in mice with dementia
New research shows, for the first time in an animal model, that tau pathology — the second-most important lesion in the brain in patients with Alzheimer’s disease — can be reversed by a drug.
World Health Organization certifies Paraguay malaria-free
The World Health Organization (WHO) certified Paraguay as having eliminated malaria, the first country in the Americas to be granted this status since Cuba in 1973.
India aims to criminalize witch doctor practice of branding sick children with hot irons
When a traditional healer burned hot clay into the chest of two-year-old Kushbu Lal, she died. Now moves are afoot to criminalize a practice that continues to cost lives.
U.K. government funds £260 million to improve air quality
A £220 million Clean Air Fund is set to tackle roadside emissions, which is part of a £260 million plus package from the government to improve air quality.
Rwanda becomes first poor country to provide eye care for all
Universal eye care reaching every village in a low-income country is a landmark moment for global health equity. Rwanda trained thousands of nurses across hundreds of local health centers, putting basic eye services within reach of every community. The gains are deeply human — a pair of glasses can keep a woman employed, her daughter in school, a family out of poverty. Funding for vision care globally remains thin, and Rwanda’s success required sustained political will that can’t be assumed elsewhere. Still, the community-nurse model offers a real template for countries ready to follow.