Kill or Cure? - Series 2
SERIES FOR THE BBC - 10 x 23-minutes

Diseases that are no threat in developed nations claim tens of millions of lives every year in developing countries. Modern, effective treatments targeting affluent westerners are too expensive for the world's poor. Old drugs are cheap but resistance is spreading very fast. In some cases the only drugs available kill up to one in 10 of the patients who take them. Kill or Cure covers the hunt for effective and affordable treatments for populations earning less than a few dollars a day. But even in developed nations, the hunt is on for cures for diseases such as HIV and Buruli ulcers.

Haiti: Fighting Syphilis
23-minutes, 2008
Ref: 638

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Syphilis was thought to have been beaten by mass penicillin treatment in the 1950s and 1960s. Now it's back, particularly among the rural populations of places like Haiti - which medical experts believe is where the disease started in the first place. The theory goes Christopher Columbus' crew brought the disease back to Europe. Now, special mobile testing units are being used to tackle the disease and with great success.

Australia: The Mystery Ulcers
23-minutes, 2008
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A mystery illness which destroys skin, flesh and even bone when it strikes - the Buruli ulcer can leave sufferers horribly disfigured. Scientists in Australia, where it was first recorded, are working on research to find out how it occurs and why outbreaks are so localized. They hope their research will help the tens of thousands of people who suffer from Buruli ulcers, particularly in Africa.

Nigeria: Malaria - Fighting Back
23-minutes, 2008
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How remote communities are Nigeria are themselves taking responsibility for making sure they are treated for the diseases which pose the greatest danger. Manufacturing powerful, effective drugs is one thing. Making sure they get to the people that need them most is quite another - and that is what this film looks at. Kill or Cure travels to rural area of Iseyin, about 70 kms from the university town of Ibadan. There we investigate how the community has organized the distribution of drugs and what impact this method has had on the health of the community.

The Deadly Sleep
23-minutes, 2008
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Sleeping sickness is one of the most deadly of the forgotten diseases. Experts thought it had been destroyed decades ago. But it's back with a vengeance and now mobile field teams are out in the bush carrying out blood tests and lumber punctures to beat the disease. For many of its victims the drugs used to treat the disease are fatal in up to 10% of cases.

The Vaccine of Hope
23-minutes, 2008
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Japanese Encephalitis kills thousands of children across Asia and leaves thousands more disabled. A new vaccine, developed and manufactured in China, is being rolled out across Southern Asia for the first time. The new manufacturing process is more streamlined making the drug much cheaper.

The New Weapon Against Malaria
23-minutes, 2008
Ref: 667

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A chemical developed by China for use by the Vietcong in the Vietnam War to fight malaria is providing new hope for million of malaria sufferers. The chemical called artemisinin, which is extracted from the ginghao plant, is providing new hope for millions of malaria sufferers. The plant is grown in vast quantities in China and could do much to fight malaria, particularly in Africa, like in Burkina Faso where we meet the patients that will benefit, but the yield from the plant is too low an generating quantities to meet demand could be tricky, this is where scientists at Edinburgh University in the UK come in. They have been developing a technique to engineer a variety of the plant with much higher yields.

Vietnam: The Deadly Trematodes
23-minutes, 2008
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Trematodes are tiny parasites that live for years in the liver, lungs and even the brains of at least 40 million worldwide. People get infected by eating freshwater fish and shellfish - and it's very hard to detect and cure. Millions of pounds a year are wasted on treating the wrong disease. We traveled to Vietnam to see how this disease is easily transmitted, especially to children.

The Malaria Vaccine
23-minutes, 2008
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"Kill or Cure?" goes in search of the very latest ways to fight the disease. Malaria is still the most deadly disease in the world. - it kills a child every thirty seconds. As yet no vaccine exists. But the race is on to find one and several companies are getting close. This episode of "Kill or Cure?" looks at two different approaches. First we travel to Bagamoyo in Tanzania, where they are hoping to produce one of the most advanced vaccines in the world and, so far, trials of the drug have gone well. But they have rivals - the Sanaria team based at Rockville in Maryland. There, scientists are using some of the most deadly mosquitoes in the world to find an effective vaccine.

A Woman's Disease: Chlamydia & Trachoma
23-minutes, 2008
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How new easy to use field tests are being employed to hold back the spread of syphilis in Kosovo and trachoma in Tanzania. Both infections are caused by the same bacteria. In Tanzania it's also regarded as a disease of the poorest of the poor and a disease especially of women and children. In Kosovo, a post conflict country attempting to re-build its future, there is a great need for much more education about syphilis - they don't really have any proper infection rate statistics.

HIV: The Race for a Vaccine
23-minutes, 2008
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This is the glittering prize of drug R&D. In 1992 the US Government promised a vaccine within two years. Despite 25 years of research no one has found it. But in the slums of Nairobi in Kenya they may have made a breakthrough which they hope will lead to the Holy Grail of vaccines.

The Measles War
23-minutes, 2008
Ref: 648

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Vaccinating children in developing countries can be hard work. It’s a huge challenge – especially when there are long distances to travel, there’s not enough staff and there is the need to keep vaccines at the right temperature . Trying to do it during a war or in times of conflict, when young lives are even more at risk, makes it almost impossible. “Kill or Cure?” goes to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is still recovering from a long and brutal civil war, to see how it’s done. Over 17,000 UN troops are still on duty in the Congo trying to keep the peace. It’s dangerous work. They have the highest casualty rate of any UN peace-keeping mission – last year alone eight solders were killed. We go with them on patrol and with the vaccination teams trying to bring measles under control.