Nurith Aizenman

A debt crisis looms over low- and-middle-income countries. One in five people live in a country teetering toward default. NPR unpacks the causes and consequences, including spiraling food prices.

The head of the World Health Organization made a historic announcement today: COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency. NPR unpacks what that means — and what comes next.

The World Health Organization has lifted the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for COVID-19. The declaration had been in effect since Jan. 30, 2020.

Botswana has one of the last thriving herds of elephants. But the animals are a menace to rural farmers. One nonprofit's solution: safari drives for local schoolkids. Can it work? NPR joins a trip.

Tuberculosis kills 1.6 million a year — the second deadliest infectious disease after COVID-19. Using immune cells and mRNA technology, scientists in South Africa are working on a new vaccine.

That's the view of Joseph Glauber of the International Food Policy Research Institute. He considers the fear the war would lead to a surge in food prices – and a dramatic worsening of world hunger.

The mRNA shots against COVID were a game-changer but the shots need ultra-cold freezers that are unavailable in many low-income countries. Now the hunt is on for innovations to solve this problem.

Disease researchers from South Africa were the first to identify the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. Scientists there are racing to detect new pathogens before they can spark another pandemic.

Afrigen is the linchpin of global project to use mRNA technology to empower low-resource countries to make their own vaccines against killer diseases from TB to HIV. What will it take to succeed?

Dr. Gabriela Kucharski's city of Toledo had virtually no vaccines. And it's a bastion of support for Brazil's vaccine skeptic president. Here's why that didn't matter.