Year: 2022

The spread of monkeypox in the U.S. could represent the dawn of a new sexually transmitted disease, though some health officials say the virus that causes pimple-like bumps might yet be contained before it gets firmly established. Experts don't agree on the likely path of…

India and Namibia have signed an agreement to bring cheetahs to the forests of the South Asian country, where the large cat became extinct 70 years ago. According to the agreement signed Wednesday, eight African cheetahs will be transferred from Namibia to India in August…

Ukrainian therapist Svitlana Kutsenko thought she was making progress with her patients — army veterans recovering from mental trauma suffered during fighting with Russia in 2014. Then, war erupted again. Now, five months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Kutsenko says the situation looks bleaker than ever.…

The White House says President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing "very mild symptoms." The president's diagnosis comes amid another wave of the coronavirus in the United States, driven this time by the BA.5 variant.  VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine…

New cases of COVID-19 have been sweeping across the United States in recent weeks. On Thursday, President Joe Biden tested positive. His symptoms of tiredness, a runny nose and dry cough are considered mild. The highly infectious and transmittable BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus’s omicron…

An unvaccinated young adult from New York recently contracted polio, the first U.S. case in nearly a decade, health officials said Thursday.  Officials said the patient, who lives in Rockland County, had developed paralysis. The person developed symptoms a month ago and did not recently…

A private spaceflight company launches its way into history. Plus, a look back at the start of what is now a tenuous stellar partnership, and we remember the first manned mission to the moon. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...

Preparations are underway for the mass rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine to protect millions of children in Africa. The rollout is being funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for nearly $160 million. The World Health Organization said Gavi’s multimillion-dollar funding marks a key…

A new study shines a light on the health risks, challenges, and barriers faced daily by millions of refugees and migrants who suffer from poor health because they lack access to the health care available to others in their host countries. The World Health Organization…

Drought can slightly increase developing world children’s risk of diarrheal disease, researchers have found, adding that wetter regions seem to be affected differently than drier ones.  Diarrhea is the second-leading cause of death among children worldwide, and climate change is making droughts longer, more frequent…

The world is bracing for more intense heat waves fueled by climate change this summer, and urban centers across the world are unprepared to face these brutal natural disasters. ...

Overdose deaths increased 44% for Blacks and 39% for Native Americans in 2020 compared with 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted access to care and exacerbated racial inequality, an official report showed Tuesday. "Racism, a root cause of health disparities, continues to be a serious…

Elon Musk lost a fight to delay Twitter's lawsuit against him as a Delaware judge on Tuesday set an October trial, citing the "cloud of uncertainty" over the social media company after the billionaire backed out of a deal to buy it. "Delay threatens irreparable…

Ghana's Health Service says more than a third of the people quarantined after an outbreak of the Marburg virus, a relative of Ebola, have been cleared to leave isolation. Authorities quarantined 98 people this week following two deadly cases of the virus in Ghana. It…

The James Webb telescope is giving the world the clearest ever images of our universe. For VOA News Antoni Belchi has the story.   ...

The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning the right to abortion has raised concerns among activists about a domino effect in developing countries, including in Africa. In Kenya, anti-abortion groups have welcomed the ruling while abortion rights supporters fear it could further restrict the reproductive health of…

The Indian government's COVID-19 vaccinations hit 2 billion on Sunday, with booster doses underway for all adults, as daily infections hit four-month high, official data showed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled the vaccination milestone, celebrating the world's largest and longest-running inoculation campaign, which began last…

Macao's government will extend a lockdown of casinos and other businesses until Friday, as authorities work to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the world's biggest gambling hub, according to a statement on its website. The lockdown in the Chinese special administrative region had been…

Chinese astronauts, known as taikonauts, and a ground crew are working to finish their country's first permanent orbiting space station and the world's second by year's end, official media outlets say. That milestone will boost China's national pride and provide it with new channels for…

The world was sadder and more stressed out in 2021 than ever before, according to a recent Gallup poll, which found that four in 10 adults worldwide said they experienced a lot of worry or stress. Experts say the most obvious culprit, the pandemic —…

More than 100,000 monkeypox vaccine doses are being sent to states in the next few days, and several million more are on order in the months ahead, U.S. health officials said Friday. They also acknowledged that the vaccine supply hasn't kept up with the demand…

The World Meteorological Organization says scorching heat waves and wildfires raging in Portugal, Spain and France are forecast to worsen and spread to other parts of Europe in coming days. The United Kingdom already is wilting under record high temperatures. The UK weather service has…

In Venezuela, a health crisis and the inability of many pregnant women to pay for medical exams and appointments is forcing a growing number of them to give birth outside a hospital. For VOA News, Adriana Núñez Rabascall in Caracas has the story. Video Editor:…

The lawyer for an Indiana doctor at the center of a political firestorm after speaking out about a 10-year-old child abuse victim who traveled from Ohio for an abortion said Thursday that her client provided proper treatment and did not violate any patient privacy laws…

Now that the United States has a patchwork of different abortion laws, women who can afford to travel are going to states where abortion is still legal. Others rely on employers to provide money for transportation. VOA's Carolyn Presutti explains how that happens and what…

About 25 million children worldwide have missed out on routine immunizations against common diseases like diphtheria, largely because the coronavirus pandemic disrupted regular health services or triggered misinformation about vaccines, according to the U.N.  In a new report published Friday, the World Health Organization and…

Nick Barragan is used to wearing a mask because his job in the Hollywood film industry has long required it. So he won't be fazed if the county that's home to Tinseltown soon becomes the first major population center this summer to reinstate rules requiring…