FLU AND THE SISTERSThe influenza virus struck in 1918, first observed in Europe and the USA before swiftly spreading around the world. It would infect an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—killing up to 100 million. Philadelphia became the American epicentre of the pandemic. When the Red Cross warned that there weren’t enough nurses, nuns re
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DIABETES AND A SYMBOLIC DOLLARThough diabetes is one of the first human diseases on record and had been known for over 3,000 years, its exact nature had been a mystery. Canadian physician Frederick Banting (right) had no experience in research but was intrigued by the idea of discovering the hormone that regulates the metabolism of sugar. Working with assistant Charles Best, Banting had
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HIV AND AN UNTREATABLE COUGHIn the early 80s, reports began to surface of an untreatable pneumonia among previously healthy men in the gay community, foxing researchers. It would be years before HIV would be identified as the underlying cause. AZT was originally developed in the 1960s by a US researcher as a way to thwart cancer, but shelved. Burroughs Wellcome, already known for its ant
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POLIO AND LOOSE DIMESUS President Franklin D Roosevelt (right) was 39 when he contracted polio and was never able to walk again on his own. This led him to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938 (later named March of Dimes), a philanthropic initiative to uncover the mysteries of polio. It raised money—literally urging Americans to send loose dimes—to sponsor clinic
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CANCER AND A LONG RUNAthlete Terry Fox (left) had a vision: A world without cancer. After a bone cancer diagnosis required the amputation of his right leg, 21-year-old Fox embarked on a cross-country run in Canada on April 12, 1980, to raise money for cancer research, which he called the Marathon of Hope. Though he abandoned his run after 143 days when the cancer spread to his lungs, he
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FAMINE AND A CONCERT TICKETWhen the heartbreaking images of famine victims in Ethiopia were brought to the attention of the West by a BBC television report in 1984, the images of starving children moved the lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof (second from left), and Ultravox"s Midge Ure to write the charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and assemble an all-star group to
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TUBERCULOSIS AND A GIANT RATBart Weetjens, a Belgian product designer, had kept rodents as a child, and known their acute sense of smell, intelligence and ability to learn. His NGO Apopo has been screening samples from clinics in Tanzania and Mozambique since 2013, harnessing the unique ability of African giant pouched rats to sniff out the TB bacteria in sputum samples, which often esca
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EBOLA AND A PHONE CONNECTIONWhen the Ebola virus exploded across West Africa in 2014, people around the world made relief donations using their mobile phones, establishing crowdfunding’s might to rally the world for a cause. Started by former wireless industry executives, the Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF) brought the technology and reach of mobile phones to registered charities as an in
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MALARIA AND A MODIFIED MOSQUITOPhilanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates have committed more than $2.9 billion in grants to combat malaria, their top priority. Their foundation recently partnered with Oxitec, a biotech company that develops genetically-modified male mosquitoes that kill off future generations of malaria-transmitting bugs. With the advent of Covid-19, Gates recently cautione
