Lifelines: The quest for global health

Lifelines tells the stories of those who are doing incredible work to control, eliminate or eradicate some of the world’s worst diseases and conditions, such as rabies, polio, leprosy, malaria, schistosomiasis (bilharzia), guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma and maternal mortality.

And it is in some of the most remote places on earth where these health heroes battle on the ground, or in the lab, to put an end to the suffering that these conditions and diseases bring. From low-tech ingenuity and hard work, to dramatic scientific breakthroughs, these are stories of people, passion and persistence in the triumph of humanity over unbearable suffering.

Smallpox was the last disease to be eradicated from the world more than 30 years ago, so which one will be next and who are the people who might make this happen soon?

Lifelines: The Quest for Global Health will air on Al Jazeera in 2014.