Liu Xiao spends her weeks visiting sludge and organic waste treatment plants across China. The travel can be tiring but as a technical and policy adviser on waste management she must help implement President
The number of Africans that will have contracted HIV virus fourfold to 120m by 2025 under the worst case scenario, according to figures in a report by the united Nations. This scenario, with 89m new
For those who think that the developing world is already overburdened with saviours, Bill Gates has a sharp answer.
For the billions of potential victims of Aids and malaria in the developing world, a reliable vaccine would be the holy grail. But for the pharmaceutical or biotech company that discovers it, it
The world is poorly prepared for an influenza pandemic, with only a dozen countries purchasing significant quantities of antiviral drugs and just 50 with contingency plans on how to cope with such an
Countries gather to assess how to tackle the deadly influenza epidemic that many experts see as overdue. It would bring both political tensions and huge economic costs to the world. A basement room
China as a whole appears to be fighting a losing battle against the shifting desert sands. According to official estimates, China's deserts are growing by 3,500 sq km a year and now cover 18 per
A landmark international pack to curb tobacco use, the world's first-ever public health treaty, came into force amid concerns by anti-smoking activists that tobacco industry lobbying and lack of
As more and more traditional chemical insecticides are banned as human health hazards, scientists are intensifying research into new biological pesticides. Scientists at Rockefeller University in New
The price of carbon soared as cold weather across Europe kick-started the fledgling carbon trading market. Carbon reached Euro 9 a tonne during the day, a record price since the market became truly
Countries around the world should sign up to a Kyoto style treaty designed to boost medical innovation and affordable treatment, according to a petition submitted to the Word Health Organisation by
