New Covid Pills Offer Hope as Omicron Looms

Merck and Pfizer will soon debut prescription pills to treat Covid-19. And more drugs are on the way.

Biden Focuses on How Spending Bill Would Lower Drug Costs

President Biden emphasized how the bill would lower prescription drug costs, an issue his administration hopes will build support for the broader package.

Biden Touts Legislation to Reform Prescription Drug Prices

President Biden presented a key provision from his Build Back Better bill that would take steps to combat the high costs of prescription drugs.

The Variant Hunters: Inside South Africa’s Effort to Stanch Dangerous Mutations

Scientists in a cutting-edge laboratory do part of the work. Local health workers on foot do the rest.

On Syria’s Ruins, a Drug Empire Flourishes

Powerful associates of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, are making and selling captagon, an illegal amphetamine, creating a new narcostate on the Mediterranean.

In Africa, Dealing With Vaccine Challenges and the Omicron Variant

Vaccine shortages and skepticism, and rewarding countries for discovering variants. Also: Happiness and politics; unwanted children; beware of psychedelics.

Will High Vaccination Rates Help Spain Weather Omicron?

Spain surpassed others in Europe by avoiding politicized debate about Covid shots. Citizens also largely heeded the health guidance from their leaders.

What Can One Life Tell Us About the Battle Against H.I.V.?

In 2001, U.N. estimates suggested 150 million people would be infected with H.I.V. by 2021. That preceded an ambitious global campaign to curb the virus. How well did it work?

Omicron Is Here. Will We Use Our New Covid Drugs Wisely?

The world must not repeat history by making Covid-19 drugs inaccessible. 

Build Back Better Act Would Patch Holes in Health Coverage

Taken together, the provisions in the social policy bill represent the biggest step toward universal coverage since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.