PBS Miniseries ‘Rx for Survival’ Examines Global Health Successes, Challenges

PBS beginning Tuesday will air "Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge," a six-part miniseries examining how public health discoveries that have more than doubled life expectancy in developed countries over the past 100 years are not being utilized to stop the spread of preventable diseases in developing countries. The series, which is produced by the WGBH/NOVA Science Unit and Vulcan Productions, was filmed in more than 20 nations, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Merck Company Foundation and developed in partnership with the Global Health Council and other global health organizations and individuals. Summaries of the episodes appear below.

• "Disease Warriors" profiles the work of early researchers, including Louis Pasteur, who developed the first vaccines.
  
  
• "Rise of the Superbugs" chronicles the development of medications and the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant strains of diseases, such as tuberculosis.
  
  
• "Delivering the Goods" explores a paradox of global health: most of the deadliest diseases can be prevented, treated or cured, but millions of people still die from them because of a lack of access to medications and public health resources.
  
  
• "Deadly Messengers" profiles efforts by scientists and health workers over the last 25 years to control virus spread by mosquitoes and other vector-borne diseases, including malaria.
  
  
• "Back to the Basics" reports on the connections between the spread of preventable diseases in developing countries and the lack of nutrition, clean water and sanitation, as well as problems caused by overconsumption, including obesity and type 2 diabetes.
  
  
• "How Safe Are We?" examines the emergence of 30 new infectious diseases over the past few decades, the speed at which new diseases travel around the world and the return of diseases that were once controlled.
  

NPR Global Health Reports
In partnership with the series, NPR this week on its nationally syndicated programs will air several reports on "some of the most urgent emerging health issues." Summaries of some of the special reports published to date appear below.

• NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday": The segment reports on scientists in Brazil working to develop a vaccine for hookworm, a chronic infection that causes anemia and malnutrition (Palca, "Weekend Edition Saturday," NPR, 10/29). A transcript of the segment and a gallery of related photos are available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
  
  
• NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday": The segment profiles the Flying Doctors, a medical service that airlifts residents of remote areas during medical emergencies, and their work providing increased access to specialty care in Kenya (Wilson, "Weekend Edition Sunday," NPR, 10/30). A related multimedia presentation is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
  
  
• NPR's "All Things Considered": The segment profiles a factory in Ghana, the first country to receive a grant from the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, producing medications to fight HIV/AIDS (Harris, "All Things Considered," NPR, 10/31). The complete transcript is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
  
  
• NPR's "Morning Edition": The segment examines how some organizations are fighting "manmade" problems, such as hunger and disease, in Africa (Quist-Arcton, "Morning Edition," NPR, 10/31). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
  

TIME Special Section
TIME magazine in its Nov. 7 issue published a special section of articles on global health, including profiles of international health "heroes." Headlines for the articles appear below.

• "Saving One Life at a Time: Six Million Children -- And Even More Adults -- Die Unnecessarily Every Day. Good People All Over The World Are Doing Their Best To Save Them. You Can Too" (Gibbs, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "AIDS Whistle-Blower: Gui Xien" (Park, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Bird-Flu Hunter: Guan Yi" (Walsh, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Bridge Builder: Peter Okaalet" (Gorman, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Champion of the Poor: Paul Farmer" (Elmer-DeWitt, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Child Saver: Busi Bhembe" (Robinson, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Country Doctor: Leon Kintaudi" (Gorman, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Drug Warrior: Dora Akunyili" (Lemonick/Da Costa, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Efficiency Expert: Ernest Darkoh" (Kluger/Lindow, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Malaria Fighter: Pedro Alonso" (Lemonick/Ansah Ayisi, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Medic in Exile: Cynthia Maung" (Kluger/Walsh, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Motorcycle Riders: Barry and Andrea Coleman" (Kluger et. al., TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Nutritionist: Vicky Alvarado" (Kluger/Wetzel, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "The Laughing Doctor: Sok Thim" (Walsh, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "The Listeners: Abhay and Rani Bang" (Perry, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Truth Teller: Kabiti Ishaya" (Lemonick/Da Costa, TIME, 11/7).
  
  
• "Vitamin Sherpa: Ram Shrestha" (Kluger, TIME, 11/7).
  

Global Health Media Education Project
Additional companion elements of the Rx for Survival project introduced this week include:

• Global health articles in TIME's international and TIME for Kids editions;
  
  
• The TIME Global Health Summit, an international meeting for health experts and policymakers. Biographies of scheduled speakers are available online.
  
  
• A companion book on the issues published by Penguin Press; and
  
  
• An undergraduate global health curriculum developed by Johns Hopkins University and available for enrollment by fall semester 2006 (PBS release, 11/1).
  

Washingtonpost.com Online Chats
Washingtonpost.com this week will host several online chats related to the series:

• Philip Hilts, author of "Rx for Survival: Why We Must Rise to the Global Health Challenge," is scheduled to discuss the first episode of the series on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET. A transcript of the chat will be available online. Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Jackie Judd also interviewed Hilts.
  
  
• Andrea and Barry Coleman, who are featured in the episode "Delivering the Goods," are scheduled to discuss the series on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET. A transcript of the chat will be available online.
  
  
• Alfred Sommer, professor and former dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is scheduled to discuss the series on Friday at 2 p.m. ET. A transcript of the chat will be available online.
  

Kaisernetwork.org To Webcast Select Summit Sessions Live
Kaisernetwork.org will provide webcasts of select sessions from the TIME Global Health Summit, including the following live webcasts.

Tuesday, Nov. 1:

• 2:15 p.m. ET -- Press conference on American faith communities fighting for global health
  
• 5:00 p.m. ET -- Summit Welcome
  
• 5:30 p.m. ET -- The Case for Optimism
  

• 10:00 a.m. ET -- Press conference with Measles Initiative partners
  
• 10:40 a.m. ET -- How Do We Prepare for the Next Plague?
  
• 11:15 a.m. ET -- Why Do 10 Million Children Have to Die?
  
• 2:35 p.m. ET -- Press conference with Bill Gates of the Gates Foundation and Jim Kelly, managing editor of TIME
  
• 4:00 p.m. ET -- Keynote address with former President Clinton and Gates
  

• 10:25 a.m. ET -- Funding -- Who, How Much and What For?
  
• 11:20 a.m. ET -- How Do We Get from Here to There?