logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
26m 30s

How long will we live in future?

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Life expectancy is expected to increase by almost five years around the world by 2050, according to new research. The Global Burden of Disease Study says countries with lower life expectancy are expected to see the biggest increases.

Claudia Hammond is joined by BBC Africa health correspondent Dorcas Wangira to hear how public health measures are behind the predicted increases.

We also hear about how negotiations at this week’s World Health Assembly to secure a global deal for countries to prepare for pandemics have fallen through.

Claudia and Dorcas discuss new research in Kenya into the time of day mosquitoes are biting children in school, and what it tells us about whether the insects are getting smarter.

We also hear about the project twinning hospitals in Mexico and the US to try to improve the survival chances of children with leukaemia.

And new research from Australia suggests having a baby takes much more metabolic energy than previously thought.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Dan Welsh Editor: Holly Squire

Up next
Jul 9
First malaria treatment approved for newborns
Until now there has been no approved treatment for malaria in newborns and infants weighing less than 4.5kg. We hear from families and clinicians firsthand what this new formulation, due to be approved across eight African countries, means for them.We are joined by Professor Dami ... Show More
26m 31s
Jul 2
Can bacteria-eating viruses be used to fight superbugs?
Phages are viruses that only infect bacteria. How might they help us tackle antimicrobial resistance? Franklin Nobrega and Esme Brinsden from the University of Southampton explain how their citizen science project that collects samples from around the globe is building a library ... Show More
26m 28s
Jun 25
Childhood vaccination coverage stalls worldwide
There has been immense progress on childhood vaccination since 1974, with over four billion children vaccinated worldwide. So why now are we seeing vaccination rates stall, and decline? We look at what is driving this stagnation that is putting millions of children at risk. The p ... Show More
26m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2021
The Evidence: When will the pandemic end?
Everybody hopes that the new super-charged Omicron variant of coronavirus will be less severe, but even if it is, it’s spreading so fast and infecting so many people, health services around the world could still buckle under the strain.Two years into the pandemic, Claudia Hammond ... Show More
50m 9s
Jan 2022
The Evidence: Africa, the pandemic and healthcare independence
In a special edition of The Evidence, Claudia Hammond and her panel of experts focus on Africa, on how the more than fifty countries on the continent, home to 1.3 billion people and the most youthful population in the world, have fared, two years into the pandemic.African scienti ... Show More
50m 17s
Aug 2021
The Evidence: How will the pandemic end?
When all restrictions are lifted in a highly vaccinated country, how manageable is the coronavirus? Both Israel and UK’s experiments to do just that, have raised new worries about raising the risk of new vaccine resistant variants. Claudia Hammond and her panel of global experts ... Show More
48m 22s
Oct 2022
The Evidence: How pandemics end
Six and a half million dead. More than a hundred times that infected. The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe. But in the final months of the third year of this health crisis, some now claim it’s all over.Scientists with key roles in the global response join Clau ... Show More
50m 49s
Apr 2020
The Evidence: Young people, lifting lockdowns, USA and Kenya updates
Claudia Hammond and a panel of international experts look at the latest research into Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus which is sweeping through the world. As the disease spreads, younger people have perhaps not been getting the attention they deserve. How will ... Show More
49m 27s
Dec 2023
Give children control; supporting adolescent health and wellbeing
This is the second episode of a special three-part podcast series that delves into adolescent health and wellbeing, focusing on creating a positive trajectory of health from a young age.   The podcast explores physical and mental health issues affecting young people globally, par ... Show More
45m 29s
May 2024
The Evidence: Maternal Health in Malawi
The process of childbirth can be painful yet amazing, but at times and in some places, also very dangerous. Recorded in Malawi, East Africa, Claudia Hammond is joined by a panel of maternal health experts to figure out why it is that the equivalent of a large jumbo jet full of wo ... Show More
49m 27s
Feb 2022
Actions for decolonizing global health
What are the colonial legacies in global health? And what impact have they had on how some health and health research programmes are run in Africa? In this episode, we speak to two visionary women leaders who tell us what’s wrong in global health and give concrete steps toward mo ... Show More
38m 54s
Apr 2024
Are more young people getting cancer?
Last month, Catherine, Princess of Wales shared she’d been diagnosed with cancer. Describing this news as ‘a huge shock’ and at age just 42, the Princess’ disease falls into a category known as “early-onset cancer” – when the disease affects those under 50. While cases in this ag ... Show More
27m 39s