Health

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The history of the modern world, told with moving dots

Cellphones are transforming the way in which aid workers are tackling the transmission of infectious diseases in Haiti. Photo:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41309185@N03/5497953826/sizes/l/in/photostream/">ambafranceht (flickr)</a>

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A dose of cell-phone surveillance helps aid workers save lives

In Haiti, aid workers may have saved thousands of lives by tracking the cell phones of displaced citizens.

The Invisible Problem. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/carljones/2632941483/in/photostream">carl.jones (flickr)</a>

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The invisible problem in global development

The world is facing a "global human rights emergency in mental health," says the World Health Organization (WHO) via the Guardian. It's a quiet crisis keeping millions out of the global marketplace.

Lionel Messi, considered the world's top football player at the moment, takes aim at more than just the back of the net. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34103436@N06/3176052482/">prettyfriendship (flickr)</a>

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FC Barcelona Takes a Shot at Polio Eradication

Many of us dream of bending it like Beckham. But star-quality soccer — football, to most of its 250 million players worldwide — is almost impossible without a healthy childhood.

Empty pharmacy shelves in the West African country of Guinea illustrate the problems of medication access in developing countries. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_harneis/4811518231/"> Julien Harneis (flickr)</a>

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What African Clinics Can Learn from Coca-Cola

Even in the most remote parts of Kenya, there are little shops that sell sodas and mobile phone cards. But too often, the pharmacies of the nation's clinics and public hospitals are empty.

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Piles of Problems Make the Gates Foundation Rethink our Most Useful Invention: The Toilet

Girls who lack access to sanitary pads may miss up to 40 days of school a year. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps.

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Entrepreneurship vs. Menstruation: Africa's Race to Build a Better Sanitary Pad

In the United States, missing close to two months of school every year might get you expelled. For millions of women and girls in the developing world, it's a routine.

Cell phone technology has changed the economic landscape in many parts of the world. Now it might shape health care as well. Photo: Lisa Hoashi/Mercy Corps

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Paging Dr. Smartphone?

Diagnosing diseases, running blood work and monitoring brain activity -- yup, there will be an app for that. And unlike Angry Birds, it might save lives.

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The Sanitation Value Chain in Nairobi’s Slums

Sanergy (sanitation+energy) is an MIT-based start-up with a mission: Employ sewage. Produce jobs. One glorified outhouse at a time.

More than 70 percent of the population in the Congo is impoverished, making the country extremely vulnerable to price shocks. Photo: Jenny Vaughan/Mercy Corps

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Food for Thought

Wildfires in Russia. Revolution in the Middle East. Rising oil prices — these seemingly unconnected events have cumulated in a weak global harvest that will place additional burden on families whose budgets are already stretched thin.