Health Check
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Health Check
Health issues and medical breakthroughs from around the world.
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South African coming-of-age initiations
For some communities in South Africa coming-of-age initiations are a hugely significant moment, but there have been rising concerns over the safety of...
Could the shingles vaccine really slow down the ageing process?
Joined by BBC Brazil reporter Camilla Mota, presenter Claudia Hammond discusses new research from the U.S. that has found that people who have had a v...
What effect does exercise really have on depression?
We are often told exercise is good for boosting your mood, but a new Cochrane review has looked at what the evidence says about how much difference ex...
China’s latest bid to boost its birth rate
China has just brought in taxes on contraception including condoms in a bid to increase the nation’s birth rate. What impact could this have when cons...
How can we eliminate malaria?
In the past decade there has been little progress in lowering malaria cases, with over half a million people still dying from the mosquito-borne disea...
2025: A big year for tackling malaria
Malaria is still the third biggest killer on the planet and despite decades of serious investment it’s a disease that is still very much with us. But...
Behind the Huntington’s disease breakthrough
James Gallagher joins Claudia Hammond to share his pick for health breakthrough of 2025 – the world's first gene therapy to treat Huntington’s disease...
Shingles vaccine slows the progression of dementia
We already knew that the shingles vaccine reduces the risk of developing dementia, but new research has shown that it also slows the progression of th...
The risky use of skin lightening in children
New research shows that 20% of children under five years old in Nigeria have been exposed to skin lightening products, even by parents who know the ri...
Childhood hypertension becomes more common
A recent meta-analysis finds that childhood hypertension rates (commonly known as high blood pressure) are increasing significantly around the world....
The disappearing mid-life crisis
Global health journalist Andrew Green has been looking at the impact of US funding cuts on the global HIV response, and reports his findings from Bots...
Canada loses measles elimination status
This week it was declared that Canada is no longer measles free and as a result The Americas have lost their measles elimination status. Claudia is jo...
Cloud seeding to cut air pollution in Delhi
Last week attempts at cloud seeding to reduce pollution in Delhi failed to produce any rain. We catch up with reporter Chhavi Sachdev to find out more...
What surpassing 1.5°C means for global health
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that global warming will ‘inevitably’ surpass 1.5 degrees. What does this mean for global health? The...
How imposters distort medical research
As Japan declares a flu epidemic we find out more about what’s going on in the country, and the potential implications for the flu season ahead in the...
How to prioritise aid in Gaza
As the fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza, we hear about the health impacts and realities of the aid being let into the territory from Olga Cherevko – sp...
Immune system researchers win Nobel Prize
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for discoveries that explain how the immune system attacks hostile infections, but...
Creating human eggs from skin cells
Functional human eggs have been generated using human skin cells in a breakthrough study. What impact could this have on couples with fertility issues...
Trump’s unproven claims on autism and paracetamol
President Trump has claimed that consuming Tylenol, or paracetamol, whilst pregnant can increase the risk of autism in children; Claudia is joined by...
More children are obese than underweight
In a ‘historical turning point’ there are now more overweight than underweight children and teenagers worldwide according to a new report from UNICEF....
The psychology of curiosity
Is curiosity good for us, or should we learn a lesson from what curiosity did to the cat? And why does curiosity drive some people to explore the ends...
Have we found a better alternative to aspirin?
Millions of us take aspirin daily to ward off heart attack or stroke, but a new study has found an alternative blood thinner, clopidogrel, could be mo...
A breakthrough in treating chronic pain
One in five of us suffer with chronic pain globally and the exact cause of it is often unknown making it very hard to treat. However, in what has been...
Using AI to discover new antibiotics
AI models have helped to discover new potential antibiotics to treat drug resistant infections of gonorrhoea and MRSA. We speak to Professor Jim Colli...
How plastic harms health
As negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty are due to conclude at the United Nations, we check in on whether health is on the agenda with Dr Cressid...
Malnutrition in Gaza
UN-backed experts – the IPC - say the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza and that there is mounting evidence that widesp...
Making human blood deadly to mosquitoes
Antiparasitic drug Ivermectin has been shown to reduce malaria transmission by making the blood of treated persons deadly to the mosquitoes that carry...
Do you really have a penicillin allergy?
Penicillin is the go-to antibiotic for many common infections - but in the UK more than 1-in-15 adults have a penicillin allergy label on their medica...
HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir recommended by WHO
Lenacapavir has been incredibly promising in trials and now the World Health Organisation have officially recommended the drug for HIV prevention. Smi...
First malaria treatment approved for newborns
Until now there has been no approved treatment for malaria in newborns and infants weighing less than 4.5kg. We hear from families and clinicians firs...
Can bacteria-eating viruses be used to fight superbugs?
Phages are viruses that only infect bacteria. How might they help us tackle antimicrobial resistance? Franklin Nobrega and Esme Brinsden from the Univ...
Childhood vaccination coverage stalls worldwide
There has been immense progress on childhood vaccination since 1974, with over four billion children vaccinated worldwide. So why now are we seeing va...
Future thinking
Thinking about the future comes so naturally to most people that we do not realise what a complicated and essential skill it is. Claudia Hammond and a...
Mpox surging in Sierra Leone
As mpox cases rise in Sierra Leone, we check-in with Professor Trudie Lang to understand the implications of the continuing spread of the disease and...
Exercise and immunotherapy improving cancer outcomes
A new immunotherapy regime has shown significant improvements in treatment for head and neck cancer. Meanwhile, exercise is boosting outcomes for colo...
A new way to screen for cancer in dense breasts
Women with dense breasts are four times more likely to develop breast cancer than women with low breast density and it’s also harder for cancer to be...
A promising new antimalarial
A new anti-malarial compound has been designed to target disease-causing parasites responsible for up to 90% of malaria cases in humans.
Stepha...
Listening to your body's signals
Claudia is joined by Caroline Williams to learn about the cutting-edge science of interoception – that’s how the brain interprets signals that come fr...
Shingles vaccine lowers risk of heart disease
Receiving a specific type of shingles vaccine may provide a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular events like stroke or heart failure for up to 8 years. Wi...
Mycetoma’s only research centre destroyed
Amidst conflict in Sudan, the world-leading Mycetoma Research Centre in Khartoum has been destroyed. We talk to the centre’s founder to find out what...