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When will we have an HIV vaccine?
Health Check
Dec 20, 2023

With the failure of the PrEPVacc trial in Southern and Eastern Africa, HIV researchers are concerned that an HIV vaccine will not be developed before 2030 at the earliest. Claudia Hammond is joined by Matt Fox, Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at Boston University, to discuss the latest news about HIV vaccines, funding and treatment from around the world.

We also hear about Super 5, a home-grown nutritional supplement being made by rural women in Rajasthan, in India, to address the problem of child undernutrition and malnutrition.

Claudia also speaks to Dr Rašads Misirovs to talk about sneezing. In a rare case, a patient of Dr Misirovs in Scotland tore a hole in their windpipe by stifling a sneeze. We learn more about why we sneeze as well as how to prevent injury when doing so.

Claudia and Matt also discuss how deaths from work-related illnesses are increasing, and concerns over the huge increase in calls to poison centres in the US because of accidental overdoses of injected weight-loss drugs.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

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Apr 22, 2026
Making surgery safer for infants

We learn about a new injectable microgel to help reduce bleeding in infants who require surgical care. In a mice model, it reduced bleeding by at least 50%. Ashley Brown, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University and UNC Chapel Hill tells presenter Claudia Hammond more about this new material her team has designed.

Joined by Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at Boston University in the US, Dr Matthew Fox, Claudia hears about a mystery illness that is being investigated by health officials in Burundi, which has caused five deaths and sickened thirty-five people. So far lab analysis of the illness - which causes fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea - has been negative for Ebola and Marburg viruses, Rift Valley fever, and others.

We hear about influential analysis from Cochrane which has concluded that "breakthrough" Alzheimer's drugs are unlikely to benefit patients. Researchers said the impact was "well below" what was needed to make a difference to dementia patients' lives. However, their report has also provoked a vicious backlash from equally esteemed scientists who label it as fundamentally flawed.

We’re joined by health journalist Katie Silver in Mexico, who brings us the news that the President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has announced the details of a plan to introduce universal healthcare – no mean feat in country of 130 million people.

And we hear about an experiment that was done by academics to see if they could trick AI chatbots into believing in an entirely fake disease.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Jonathan Blackwell


26min 28sec

When will we have an HIV vaccine?

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