The number of people in the world has tripled in 70 years. In this visual explainer, we examine where the growth has been – and how it will change in the futureThe world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion people on 15 November – more than thr…
Midwives review – a Muslim and a Buddhist grapple with childbirth in strife-torn Myanmar
Sombre documentary shot over five years follows two healthcare workers as they deliver babies in a brutally divided societySnow Hnin Ei Hlaing’s documentary is about two midwives – one Buddhist, one Muslim – in Rakhine state in western Myanmar, on the …
First Covid, now monkeypox – India’s role is key in the scramble for jabs
As the west buys early doses, India’s vaccine preparedness matters not just at home but for other developing nations dependent on its shotsRishabh Kumar woke up in his California bedroom in a cold sweat. In the space of three weeks, the 37-year-old fin…
The urban-rural divide hampering China’s efforts to cut smoking
Health cover varies widely between rich cities and poorer regions, and government messages on healthy living do not always go down wellChina’s ‘hidden epidemics’: the preventable diseases that could reshape a nation The tyranny of distance and the yawn…
‘I should eat more vegetables’: living with diabetes in rural China
Li acknowledges the link between his changing diet and his diabetes, a disease that costs him a large chunk of his income in medical billsChina’s ‘hidden epidemics’: the preventable diseases that could reshape a nation Li, a retired farmer who lives in…
China’s ‘hidden epidemics’: the preventable diseases that could reshape a nation
Stratospheric economic growth since the late 1970s has brought great prosperity, along with ‘western-style’ health problems that are beginning to have a devastating impact China faces a health emergency from “hidden epidemics’’ of diseases such as canc…
Health officials warn of major outbreaks of disease after severe floods in Pakistan
Diarrhoea and malaria cases spread, with risk of dysentery and cholera, as millions of displaced people forced to drink flood waterHealth officials have warned of large-scale outbreaks of disease in Pakistan after severe flooding displaced millions of …
Chinese government attempts to boost birth rate with new policies
Measures include improved maternal healthcare and efforts to reduce abortions as China seeks to reverse declining population growthThe Chinese government has pledged to improve pre- and post-natal services to encourage more people to have children and …
Feminists in India applaud their abortion rights – but they don’t extend to Dalit women | Shreeja Rao
The cost of reproductive care and the discrimination we face leaves my community effectively excluded from any gains madeSitting in my second-year law class as Roe v Wade was overturned, I watched young women hail India’s abortion legislation. My heart…
Bohra imam’s visit puts British girls at risk of mutilation, warn FGM campaigners
Dawoodi Bohra leader Mufaddal Saifuddin, who is in the UK to preach, is an advocate of the abusive practice whose visa should be revoked, say activistsCampaigners have criticised the UK government for granting a visa to a religious leader who has advoc…
‘I’m on death row’: Sri Lankans forced to choose either food or vital drugs
Lifesaving medication for cancer, heart disease and diabetes is growing scarcer and more expensive as the economic crisis intensifiesStress was written all over Sunman Senthilnathan’s face as he left the pharmacy with the crucial medicine that brings h…
‘Cancer care can’t stop’: flood-hit Assam hospital uses boats to reach patients
Staff use makeshift rafts and boats to transport patients and bring painkillers and medicines to those trapped at homeWhen the flood water roared into her home in Assam, Jyoti Bora* saw the morphine pills she takes for head and neck cancer swept away a…
Heaven Supermarket: the Beijing bar at centre of Covid outbreak
Self-service bar popular with locals and foreigners has been shut down after being linked to hundreds of casesHeaven Supermarket’s ability to attract young Chinese customers and foreigners has always been viewed with envy by its competitor bars in the …
China calls theory that Covid originated in Chinese lab ‘politically motivated lie’
WHO report has said origins of virus are still unknown and recommended further investigationChina has repeated its assertion the theory that the Covid-19 pandemic began with a leak from a Chinese laboratory is “a politically motivated lie”, after the W…
Polio outbreak in Pakistan worsens as eighth child reported paralysed
Investigation launched as first cases in a year blamed on vaccine refusal fuelled by clerics and falsification of records by parents Pakistan’s polio eradication campaign is in disarray after an alarming jump in cases last week. Eight polio cases have …