Jason Beaubien

The average woman in Niger bears seven children — the world's highest birth rate. And the country can barely feed its current population. How do you convince people that smaller families are better?

Obesity used to be an issue primarily in well-off countries. It was one of those things flippantly dismissed as a "first-world problem." Now people are packing on the pounds all over the planet. In some fast-growing cities in China, for example, half the people are now overweight.

A new

Hundreds of people in Mali may have been exposed to Ebola. And there's concern that the country doesn't have the resources or experience to stop this outbreak before it gets out of control.

Mali slapped quarantine orders on nearly 90 people on Wednesday and closed a mosque and a health facility in an effort to contain an Ebola outbreak.

The moves come after a nurse at a private clinic in the capital, Bamako, was confirmed as an Ebola victim.

One of the nurse's ...

In the current Ebola crisis, much of the focus has been on Liberia and Sierra Leone. But the virus also continues to spread in Guinea, where the first case in the current outbreak was identified in March.

According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, Guinea has ...

The number of U.S. troops fighting Ebola in West Africa is set to increase dramatically this month, and the first two field hospitals erected by U.S. troops in Liberia will open in the coming days.

One of the top scientific conferences on tropical diseases will take place without the people who have the most recent and direct experience with Ebola in West Africa.

Jonas Salk was born on October 28, 1914 in New York City. Google is celebrating the birth of the man who developed a polio vaccine with a special Google doodle.

During the fervor of the current Ebola outbreak, it seems like a good moment to tip our hats to ...

The usually staid New England Journal of Medicine is blasting the decision of some states to quarantine returning Ebola healthcare workers.

In an editorial the NEJM describes the quarantines as unfair, unwise and "more destructive than beneficial." In their words, "We think the governors have it wrong."

The editors ...

This week, the CDC issued new guidelines on the protective gear health care workers should wear while treating Ebola patients. But there's still debate in Liberia about what is the proper personal protective equipment.

JFK hospital shut down when several doctors died of Ebola. Now it's open again. And the staff is taking rigorous measures to make sure the virus doesn't make its way past the front gate.

At least 7,000 health care workers are needed to staff new Ebola treatment centers in Liberia alone. Those doctors, nurses and hygienists must learn how to protect themselves — and how not to panic.

Early on in the epidemic, the government and aid agencies commissioned songs that just ended up terrifying people. But the newer songs on the radio are catchy and danceable — as well as informative.

At a government-run hospital in Liberia, Dr. Gabriel Logan is doing everything he can to save Ebola patients. That includes experimenting with an HIV drug as treatment.

He likely contracted the virus when he carried an ailing pregnant woman into her home. Relatives and neighbors in Liberia miss his jovial spirit — and lash out at their government and the U.S.

President Obama promised a massive American response to the epidemic, including the deployment of thousands of U.S. troops. That surge of assistance began three weeks ago, and despite challenges, progress is being made.

There's a company town in Liberia with 80,000 residents. Ebola was first detected in March. Firestone's resourceful response has kept the virus from spreading.

It's not just about Ebola.

That's the message from EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg. He was in Washington last week to talk about Europe's response to the crisis at a meeting of the Global Health Security Agenda. The European Union is a key player in the global effort ...

Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi had arrived in the U.S. for a two-week visit. "I'm here to meet influential people," he says energetically despite having just gotten off a transatlantic flight.

Motsoaledi became the South African Minister of Health in 2009. He took over a national health system attempting to deal with ...

An ulcer drug is dramatically changing the face of back-alley abortions in developing countries and cutting the rate of maternal deaths. Misoprostol is widely available even where abortion is banned.