Moderated by, Lalita du Perron, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for South Asia, UW-Madison
Anchored by a compelling six-hour PBS television series that premiered November 1-3, 2005 and a two-hour special presentation on April 12, 2006, Rx for Survival — A Global Health Challenge encompasses a wealth of companion elements from major media and educational partners, including TIME Magazine, NPR, Penguin Press, and Johns Hopkins University. Together these combine to make this project the most comprehensive global health media education project ever mounted. Before there was an understanding of infectious disease, few weapons were available to fight it. Disease Warriors chronicles the groundbreaking work of early researchers, such as the famed scientist Louis Pasteur, who unmasked germs as the source of illness. Pasteur went on to develop a rabies vaccine—a great scientific triumph. Today, vaccines have made huge strides against epidemics, conquering smallpox and bringing the global eradication of polio within reach. But the world still faces major challenges in getting basic vaccines to those who still need them, and in creating new ones to combat modern nemeses, like AIDS.