Global health reporter, The New York Times. Former correspondent in South Asia, Africa, Latin America and the MidEast. Author, 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa; Promised the Moon. Baker. Canoe tripper. Disease nerd. Lover of a fat novel and Earl Grey tea.
A generic version of a breakthrough cystic fibrosis drug, manufactured in Bangladesh for a fraction of the American price, may give some families around the world an unlikely lifeline. (unlocked) www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/h...
Loophole in Patent Law Brings ‘Miracle Drug’ to Patients Who Can’t Afford Itwww.nytimes.comSurprise not-everything-is-terrible news: While there is justifiable fear and frustration with the current Ebola response in East Africa, there are also some signs the world has learned some things. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/w...
The World Has Learned From the Last Ebola Outbreak, but Gaps Remainwww.nytimes.comI first reported on H.I.V. in Zambia in 2002, when no one had treatment in sub-Saharan Africa. I saw hospitals where gaunt, dying patients packed the corridors. But Zambia — bolstered by international donors and the U.S. PEPFAR program — turned the tide www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/h...
AIDS Creeps Back in Parts of Zambia, a Year After U.S. Cuts to H.I.V. Assistancewww.nytimes.comLet's be frank: the thing we're all wondering, looking at those astronauts in that tiny pod, is how anyone is going to 💩. Fortunately, @katrinamillerphd.bsky.social brings us the science of the Artemis toilet www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/s...
The Artemis II Toilet Had a Problemwww.nytimes.comThere is a striking epidemiological shift underway across much of Africa: People now face as much risk of dying from a noncommunicable disease such as diabetes as they do an infectious one, such as malaria. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/h...
Diabetes, Overlooked and Unchecked, Poses New Risks in Africawww.nytimes.comReporting in northern Cameroon, I noticed a few people sitting at the back of a hospital compound. They had drug-resistant TB. They weren't there to get meds or see a doctor: they LIVE there. For months. In isolation. That's government policy. Sanitarium throwback. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/h...
4 Months Trapped in a Hospital for an Obsolete Way of Treating Their Diseasewww.nytimes.comReporting this story in Cameroon, I met people who were blind because larval worms died in their eyeballs: NTDs cause immense suffering and disability. But they're preventable! And treatable! And eliminatable!
Stephanie NolenU.S. tax dollars backed the effort to wipe out neglected tropical diseases for 20 yrs. Many countries eliminated 1 disease, and were tantalizingly close on others. Then the U.S. walked away – jeopardizing all that investment, with diseases poised to come roaring back www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/h...
U.S. tax dollars backed the effort to wipe out neglected tropical diseases for 20 yrs. Many countries eliminated 1 disease, and were tantalizingly close on others. Then the U.S. walked away – jeopardizing all that investment, with diseases poised to come roaring back www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/h...
‘Biblical Diseases’ Could Resurge in Africa, Health Officials Fearwww.nytimes.comIf you're feeling like you would like to be reminded of the good things humans are capable of – read this edge-of-your-seat obituary for the legendary Dr Bill Foege + his effort to wipe out smallpox and see every child immunized against infectious diseases www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...
William H. Foege, Key Figure in the Eradication of Smallpox, Dies at 89www.nytimes.comThe United States is signing new bilateral agreements for health funding (replacing USAID) with developing country governments. They come with conditions -- and controversy. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/h...
U.S. Cuts Health Aid and Ties It to Funding Pledges by African Governmentswww.nytimes.comA great obituary is such a pleasure. This one, by @tim-weiner.bsky.social, is a brisk retelling of a shocking life, full of great writing www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
Aldrich Ames, C.I.A. Turncoat Who Helped the Soviets, Dies at 84www.nytimes.com